So I'm a bat, what about it?
by Emmerlaus
Summary: Being reborn as a bat monster in a fantasy world? When this boy's classroom is destroyed as well as everyone in it, this nameless poor soul is reborn in a alternate universe. Follow his epic adventure, one where he will need to evolve and get more skills to survive! (The manga it's based from is VERY good and is called KUMO DESU GA, NANI KA? / So I'm a spider, what about it?)
1. Being reborn!

**Being Reborn!**

I can't believe how the day turned out. It was supposed to be a day like any others. I was chatting with my classmates when suddenly, I was struck by an intense pain... and then I was in complete darkness. I was scared at first, I didn't know what it meant. Suddenly, I started sensing my body again. I was feeling cramped, pushed and I couldn't move my arms. It felt like I was in a restriction jacket, in a dark, warm and narrow tunnel and pushed toward the exit... But suddenly, I felt some cold air on my head... before my senses being assaulted by a loud screeches!

 _ **Oh my gosh... What's is going on! Oh no, wait, I'm sliding down head first into... nothing? I'm gonna fall?!**_

I wanted to unwrap myself so badly, trying to grab into something, ANYTHING! But the more I struggled... the fastest my whole body was sliding down as I left the warmth of where I was before to fall into this cold abyss. And suddenly, freefall!

I screamed! But my own scream confused and frightened me even more! Not only I couldn't recognize my own voice but that scream suddenly created a weird sensation in my brain. Suddenly, I could see everything around me! But even more pressing, I could see the ground below, rushing to meet me!

Without thinking, I stretched my arms... and the fall slowed down. I suddenly realized that... those weren't my arms! I had wings!

If it wasn't enough, I looked above me. Hanging from what seemed to be a cave ceiling, there was a flock of scary bat monsters! I screamed and started to flap my new wings as fast as I can to leave this place! I flew toward a tunnel and soon, I was far away from the cave. None of those bat monsters followed me.

I found a hole on the walls to rest. It was close to the ground and damp but I didn't care right now. I needed to stop panicking and evaluate what was happening. I looked at my... wings. I thought back of the bats inside the cave. It took me a moment to accept it.

I became a bat. And not a normal looking bat either if I'm the same as those bats inside the cave. The sensation on my body were too real either, this wasn't a dream. The more I thought of what happened in my classroom and the rest that was happening, the more I realized I might have died and being reincarnated. But why I wasn't reincarnated as a human?

I then thought about the theory of reincarnation I heard from Hinduism. Was I such a bad person to have deserve this?

 ** _Of course not! I was a good person! Well at least I think I was... Unless dabbing have become a sin?_**

I shook my head. Since I can't change the situation, maybe should try to enjoy it instead? After all I can fly now! And wait, since I'm a bat, I must have echolocation, right?

I tried to screech again. Every solid surface appeared again in my mind. By curiosity, I tried to go make a soft whistle. Interestingly, now the range was shorter, even if it was still an impressive range.

 _ **So the louder I scream, the more I can see ahead. Interesting. But what about my wings? I don't have arms now so maybe I should get used to flying and trying to grab things with my feet? Wait, I also have a prehensile tail now?!**_

Curious, I tried to fly again. It felt a bit awkward at first since I wasn't used to it. As I was practicing, I suddenly heard a clicking noise ahead in the corridor. Since I couldn't see what it was, I decided to screech to see what it was... Further ahead, there was a giant centipede who decided it might not be a good idea to stay around after hearing my scream. As I was surprised, I suddenly heard a voice!

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Echolocation LV.1 " has become " Echolocation LV.2 "

 ** _Oh, neat! But wait... So this world have a videogame like system?! Gosh, that would be awesome! Can I get XP!? OMG, time for some grinding!_**

I was excited to test this theory, I flew around, chasing after the centipede. Flying proved to be challenging in changing directions but the corridor was a straight line so far. The giant bug tried to climb the wall toward the hole of what was probably a small tunnel. It must have being how he arrived here. Its head had entered the hole but the rest of this foolish creature was exposed. I doubted I could grab it with my foot since I wasn't very good at flying for now. I had to grab it with my mouth. As I bit down to grab it however, I used too much strength. I crushed the centipede's body... and I regretted it immediately!

I only thought of killing it for the sake of testing if there was a XP system! I felt like an idiot, not realizing the consequences of using my mouth to bite off something. The taste was horrible, I had to spit it out!

I wasn't able to spill out everything and to my despair, some still remained in my mouth. As my tongue suddenly felt numb, I suddenly sensed by arms getting stiffer! I managed to land safely on the ground, next to the dead centipede body. The mysterious voice in my head said:

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Paralysis Resistance LV.1 " has become learned.

I couldn't believe it! Not only that but my stomach started to growl... I suddenly realized that, as a monster, cooked food might no longer be an option!

 ** _ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Urk darn it! DARN IT! I have to eat things like THIS?! GRRR!_**

It took me a moment to accept this, but I finally gave in:

 ** _Whatever! But you can bet your legs I'm gonna eat human food again someday! And then you won't be on the menu ever again, you stupid bug!_**

I growled and decided to endure it as I gobbled down the centipede remains. It was truly awful. It wasn't just the taste, the paralysing poison made it hard to swallow it. I had to eat it slowly, taking small bites. It felt like torture. And even so... I realized a bit too late that the paralysis resistance I gained was not enough for me to fly again. It would take time for my system to shrug it off.

As I was depressed about it, I heard the voice again:

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Paralysis Resistance LV.1 " has become " Paralysis Resistance LV.2 "

Hearing that, I tried to move and yes, I was less stiff then before. I couldn't fly yet but I could climb, very slowly, the rugged stone walls. I didn't feel safe on the ground level in this body. Using my sharp talons and claws on my wings, I climbed near the ceiling. The voice sounded again:

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Balance LV.1 " has become learned.

I was glad efforts pay off so quickly in this world. I stayed unmoving for a long while. I had to use my tail occasionally after that to check if it still was paralysed. While I was waiting for the effects to shrug off, I couldn't help but being a little upset:

 ** _Darn, so I do not get Exp after all? Maybe that bug was too low level. At least I got this Paralysis resistance now, even if it's only level 2... So you can gain attributes skills by doing specific actions huh? Paralysis is so bad for a flyer like me. Maybe if I eat more of those centipedes, I could eventually get immune to that status effect? At least I wouldn't have to worry about that anymore._**

Such thoughts however grossed me out. Would I have to eat disgusting food like that to survive all the time? Would I gain new skills each time I eat something new?

I had so many questions but so few answers... Maybe it would be safer to go back in the cavern with the others bat-like monsters?

 ** _Hummm, those bats live as a group... Maybe I can get some new skills by observing them? It might be safer than going on an adventure on my own and getting lost... or worst, stumbling on a stronger monster who think bats are tasty! I don't wanna become a bat burrito, with crunchy wings as the tortilla!_**

With this logic, I tried returning to the cave he fled from earlier. Inside, there was still bats everywhere and I noticed that they were holding themselves upside down by rolling their tails around stalagmites on the roof.

However, flying up and trying to get a grip on a stalagmite proven more difficult than I thought at first. It took me a while but I finally managed to do it. Once I was finally settled upside down, the mysterious voice was heard again:

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Flight LV.1 " has become " Flight LV.2 "

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " 3D Maneuvering LV1 " has become " 3D Maneuvering LV.2 "

Well, I must say, I was satisfied with myself. I made a mental note to improve those skills in the future. For now however, I tried to study the monster bats. It took a long while but I figured out a few things. First off, the entrance of the cave wasn't guarded as it seem hanging on the far ceiling was enough protection. Also, for those bats, the concept of parenting to them was non-existent. I shivered seeing the corpse of a newborn bat like myself being eaten by another bat monster. If I had fall and killed myself on those sharp rocks below, that would had being my fate!

I had to close my eyes after seeing that. My thought went to my own family, the one I had when I was a human. My heart ached. I missed them. Thinking about how I would probably never see them again was extremely painful.

But such depressing thoughts didn't last forever. I sensed a weird sensation getting hold of me. It's like I sensed someone I cared about returning to me after a long trip. I opened my eyes to see where the sensation came from. I heard them arriving before I spotted them with my eyes. A flock of bat monster came back, carrying pieces of fresh meat with them. It was a hunting group. However, the sensation I had was coming from the bat monster leading them...

The leader was three sizes bigger than the rest and his skin was a darker shade of grey. Light reflected in a shade of red in his eyes. Although his size and those attributes were the only thing that made him stand out, my whole being felt a strange awe as I watched that bat monster. Of course, I realized such thing wasn't natural but I couldn't help it. This sensation slowly calmed down as that bat monster flew deeper inside the cavern, away from my sight. Among the bat ponies inside the cavern, the youngest bats who looked like me flew down to eat some of the piece of meat brought. I was still a bit hungry so I joined them, really hoping it would taste better than the frog I had earlier.

But to be honest... it looked gross. It had already be munched on and I had no idea what it was. I was frustrated at this point.

 ** _Man, why couldn't I had a skill that would allow me to identify it? In videogames setting, that would be something like "Identify", "Detect" or "Appraisal" depending if..._**

A sudden icon popped up in my head! The voice could be heard again:

" You currently have 100 skill. The skill " Appraisal: Lv.1 " cost 100 skill points to learn. Would you like to learn this skill? "

I squeaked from joy, which was fortunately ignored by my "siblings".

 ** _Ok ok, calm down. Maybe there is better skills to pick then this one. Should I pick Appraisal for now or...? No, I can make a mental list of the skills I can buy after I ate. If the other bats are eating it, it cannot be that bad, right?_**

I shrug and pushed my way to one of the piece of meat and took a bite. This one tasted like what I imagined to be: simple raw meat. I tried to think of it as tartar. Once I finished eating, I was no longer hungry. I sighed of relief and returned on the roof. Only then I proceeded to make a mental list of skills I could think off.

After a while, I came out with a few options. I ignored the social skills since they would be useless in a survival environment like this one:

" Appraisal "

" Concentration "

" Stealth "

" Evasion "

I thought about it real hard. If I could make my flight skill improve by practicing, I could probably get most of these skills by practicing them. I tried this theory by flying outside the cavern and try to find a track nearby to follow. I went back to where I found the centipede and tried to look for its footprints. Sure enough, I spotted some in the mud. Looking around, I finally spotted a rock large enough on the ceiling that I could hang upside down.

Perfect, I had the stage. Now, first, the rehearsal:

I tried to first hang upside down from the ceiling. I hid myself behind the rock formation so I would be unseen from one side off the corridor. Then I tried to open my wings and let myself fall toward the ground without making a sound.

My effort took a long while but I wasn't disappointed. Soon, the voice sounded:

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Stealth LV.1 " has become learned

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " 3D Maneuvering LV.1 " has become " 3D Maneuvering LV.2 "

I couldn't help but smile creepily, happy with myself. It seem gliding is included in the skill "3D Manoeuver" and practicing this ambush manoeuver gave me the " Stealth" skill. Now I was confident I would succeed the ambush if I needed to try again.

I went back on the ceiling and waited patiently. Since I was there for a while, I thought about the skills I should get. Since Appraisal was the only one I couldn't figure out how to practice, I decide to buy that one. After paying with my skill points, I tried to use my new skill on a piece of moss on the ceiling:

" Moss "

 ** _OH DARN IT! Urk, maybe it's because it's still at LV.1?_**

I tried to use it on myself but all info I got was " Bat ". I sighed and tried to use it on different things around me while waiting. It didn't upgrade but at least I was still hoping it would eventually.

At some point, I heard some noise that gave me hope... but that was a group of three lizard. I didn't have the confidence to go against a group yet so I let them pass. The appraisal skill only described them as "lizard" too so I was getting a bit frustrated. I stopped using the skill for now.

It took a long while before I heard a noise that made my heart leap. It was the clicking noise those centipedes were making! There was two of them coming from the hole this time.

I frowned. I didn't want to attack a group but one of those centipedes was lagging behind. That one of them had about one-third of its body who had turned grey. Although it was lagging behind, its speed was still acceptable. I was still reluctant in eating that one however, even if it mean it would be an easier target:

 ** _Urk, that one might be sick with something. I hope the first one isn't._**

I concentrated on the timing of my ambush. They were so fast that I didn't have much time to decide. Fortunately, I planned it well and crushed the head of the leading one before it even realized what was going on.

As I suspected, the one behind it didn't stop and tried to attack me. I turned around and presented one of my wings, like a matador facing a charging bull. I planned to drop my wing on its head and then bite at its body but it didn't go as I planned. It actually lifted his long body in an attempt to bite my head or my neck. As it dropped its body, it was clear it was hoping to body slam me in the same time. However, it proven to be a foolish decision as I received it with my mouth open and chopped its head off. I took a sidestep and spitted the head quickly and left the twitching body fall down. As I did so, I had another message:

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Diamond Teeth LV.1 " has become " Diamond Teeth LV.2 "

 _ **Oh, so I have diamond teeth? Interesting! Maybe I should try to crush stones, just to see if it works!**_

I went back to the corpse of the first one, grabbed it and tried to bring it above the ground. I found a cavity above where I could it safely eat it.

 ** _Ok now, what does Appraisal say about those two centipedes..._**

And of course, the answer disappointed me:

"Corpse"

" Petrified Corpse "

I shrugged and started to eat my meal. After a few bites though, I realized that I had skipped one important detail:

 ** _" Wait, petrification?! You mean it started to change into stone?! Might it happen to me?"_**

I hesitated a moment but decided there was no use to worry in the end. Besides, the one I was eating seemed fine and I already started eating it. The paralysis effect it gave me isn't as bad this time but I wish I could say the same for the taste. At least the numbing sensation of my tongue makes it easier to not feel disgusted.

Soon, " Paralysis resistance LV.2 " became " Paralysis Resistance Lv.3 "... I was hoping for such thing so I was glad I didn't eat that thing for no reason.

Suddenly, a new message popped up!

From what it said, I got the title " Gross Feeder ". It gave me "Poison Resistance LV. 1" and " Corrosion Resistance LV.1". Although I didn't like this title, I guessed it would allow me to eat raw meat without getting sick... or at least I hoped it would.

I suddenly heard a rustle below... The paralysis was still taking effect so I decided to just stay where I was and hide. I took a peek and noticed a large lizard coming of the hole where the centipedes came from. It was bigger than the one who was always traveling in a group of three, definitely a specie I never met before. It spotted the corpse of the petrified centipede on the ground and began chewing... on the petrified part?!

When I tried to use "Appraisal " on the creature, the skill leveled up!

I was excited at first but when I saw the creature name... a shiver went down my spine!

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I had so much fun writing this because I wanted to test playing with different formatting! It's a lot of work however. I'll try to make the character funny as well, it will be a good practice for that. For those who did read the manga, you'll notice my first chapter have a lot of similarities. I plan to branch out of the path the main character took however.


	2. I can increase my own level!

merendinoemiliano: thank you for your advices and kind review! Do not worry, I don't plan to make this fanfic turn into smut anytime soon. And I don't plan to make my character a mary-sue either. He will be less OP or maybe equal in strength as then the main character of the manga :)

 **I can increase my own level!**

Hiding inside my hole in the wall, I watched this new monster with wary eyes. It was a reptile who looked like a lizard. His most dominant feature was his giant yellow eyes. The fact he was eating the petrified part of the centipede was already a bit dreadful. He was chewing it like it was nothing!

The name alone revealed how dangerous the creature was:

" Basilisk "

If the name alone wasn't enough for me as a warning, this beast's eyes glowed and two spotlight turned the rest of the centipede into stone! I gaped... and unfortunately, this reptile heard me! I wasn't fast enough and as I retracted my head inside my hiding spot, my right ear was touched by that light and changed into stone!

A sense of dread gave me pressure as I was wondering my next move. I used my echolocation to check the basilisk location. I was dispirited as I saw it was climbing the wall to get me. I still had some of the centipede's remain and the only plan I could think of is to throw them once his head reach my hiding spot. By using my echolocation constantly, I was able to find out where he was even if I couldn't see him.

 _ **Focus, focus...**_

I putted my feet on the wall behind me and used my wing to lift the centipede remains. As he was about to show his head, I sprang in action and threw the centipede's remain. In the same time, the basilisk used his petrification gaze inside the hole. The mysterious voice popped up again:

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Concentration LV.1 " has become learned. "

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Petrification Resistance LV.1 " has become learned. "

Fortunately, the centipede's corpse absorbed most of the petrification and it surprised the basilisk. It made his head go back, revealing his neck. I used the wall behind me to jump to close in. I bitted him hard on its exposed neck. My mouth was so big that I was restraining his shoulders, making it unable to use its front legs. However, we no longer have a solid grip on the walls, which mean we both felt down to the floor below. I used his body as a cushion, making the beast pinned down and winded. I fortunately still had my grip on its neck and kept pressing. I was trying to claw it with my talons while my prehensile tail made him unable to move.

The rest of the fight was a long struggle. Although my " Diamond Teeth" were level 2, I found it surprisingly hard to pierce the scales of that thing and go through the muscles. Fortunately, my talons found a softer target at the hips and inside the tights. I could make the beast bleed from there even if I didn't know how much damage I was giving it. After a long while, my talons hit the bones and the basilisk stopped struggling.

Once the muscles in his neck had become limb, biting down had become easier. Once I was sure I killed it, trembling, I rose up from its corpse. It was only now I realized that one of my wing had being hit but his petrification and for a few seconds, a sense of doom filled my heart. From one look, I knew I couldn't fly again with that wing!

But... as I was thinking this was over for me, my skin suddenly started to peel?!

" Experience points have reached the fixed amount. Small Lesser Cave Bat LV.1 have become Lv.2 "

" Experience points have reached the fixed amount. Small Lesser Cave Bat LV.2 have become Lv.3 "

" Every basic ability increased. Skill Proficiency Level Up Bonus received "

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill "Diamond teeth LV.2" has become "Diamond Teeth" LV.3"

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill "Diamond teeth LV.3" has become "Diamond Teeth" LV.4"

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Concentration LV. 1" has become "Concentration LV.2"

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill "Petrification Resistance LV. 1" has become "Petrification Resistance LV.2"

" Skill Points Received "

When it finally finished, I felt refreshed and I was no longer petrified! I started to flap my wings and fly, both astonished and excited!

 _ **So this world IS like a video game! I can level up! Darn, I wish I had being reborn as a human. Maybe I could have learned a hero class with magic then. But I guess I'm stuck as... what was it... ah right, a " small lesser cave bat " monster huh? "**_

Even if I had this depressing thought in mind, the fact I escaped a deadly crisis made me unable to feel down. I still decided it would be best to return to the cave and consider my next step. The cave felt almost welcoming now. The constant squeaking inside could have become annoying but somehow, my brain just accepted it.

When I arrived and finally settled on the roof of the cavern, I begin to think deeply. I decided that before going out again, I should either train the skills I already have or try to get new skills I didn't think off. When I was tired, I would stretch my wings and try to fly... sometimes while avoiding drops of guano falling down. This training gave me some good results!

Although I never had wings before but I knew two planes manoeuver I wanted to try: " Looping " and " Barrel Rolls ".

It took some practice but I finally were able to make both of them. Even though I wasn't able to do them yet with complete ease, this training improved both my " Flying " skill to LV.5 and " 3D Manoeuver " skill to LV.6 !

My "Echolocation" also progressed a lot for trying it constantly in the cave. And after counting the bats AND the stalagmites with both " Echolocation " and " Appraisal " for the fourth time (yes, I was that bored), I got a new skill!

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Calculating Processing LV.1 " has become learned. "

 _ **What?! Really?! So I actually can become good at maths in this world? Darn, I wish I had this skill when I still had math classes! I can't see it being very useful as a bat though.**_

As I was lost in thought, the giant bat that I seeing before made a move. I felt compelled to follow it and didn't fought this instinct. I wasn't the only one as a group was forming behind it. As we left the cave, I tried to stay in the middle of the group. It felt safer this way. As I was looking at the giant bat that I deduced as the " alpha " of this colony, I noticed that he was way more quiet then the rest of us. Now that I had a closer look, it didn't look very healthy either. I wondered what " Appraisal" would tell me about our dear leader now that the skill had leveled up. I decided to give it a try:

" Sonic Bat "

 _ **Wait, a Sonic Bat?! Oooooh, that's why it's bigger than the rest. I wonder why it stay in the cave with the lesser cave bats though...**_

This " Sonic Bat" seemed to know where it was leading us. After a while we ended up meeting a strange looking deer. The antlers seemed sharp as blades and the deer looked strangely intimidating. I tried to identify it as we got closer:

" Elro Deer "

Before I could ask myself more questions, the deer started running away. It was too fast for most of us but our bat leader followed it. It seem we were able to track him as we try to catch up to him. Soon, he was waiting for us. To my surprise, it was munching one of the deer leg on the floor. He was even crunching the bones like they were nothing!

My echolocation told me the rest of the deer was just a bit further down the corridor in front of me. Soon, the rest of the flock went for its prey...

It wasn't dead yet but it was now stuck on the ground. Although it was clearly fearful of us, it was facing us with those huge antlers, like telling us to get closer if we dared. It was cornered against the wall which made the task harder. I tried to find the best angle to attack it… but there wasn't an easy way to do this. I came up with a plan though…

I flew above the deer, very close to the wall. The deer knew I was there but I was out of his reach. But since I wasn't doing anything else, the deer focused on the other bats around it. When it tried to get a bat who was targeting its leg, it lowered its head... Using this opportunity, I took a dive, aiming for the base of its neck!

However, I didn't expect the deer reflexes to be this good. Its sword-like antlers rose up and I almost got hit by them. Fortunately, my flying was good and I managed to dodge it but only by a hair! I was shivering as it had being a bit too close for comfort.

 _ **Oh shit! Note to myself: I still need to improve my flying!**_

As I landed on the deer back, I heard the mysterious voice speak again:

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Evasion LV.1 " has become learned. "

 _ **YEESS! Awesome! Now, sorry Bambi but its feeding time for us!**_

I bitten the deer's neck as hard as I could. However, my plan backfired a bit as it try to slam me against the wall. Although it hurt a little, it wasn't able to completely crush me against the wall because of its antlers. It also cause his belly to become exposed and the other bats took the initiative to bite it as well. The deer fainted, completely defeated. As I started munching on it, I realized the taste was... ok. At least it wasn't bitter because of the poison. Unfortunately thought, there wasn't enough to fill everyone. I was pushed away as they started to almost fight among themselves. Considering how much meat was left, I just let them fight for it and flew away. Soon though, the sonic bat grasped our attention again with his weird... ability. It must have being a skill as all bats suddenly stopped fighting and went to his location. The hunt continued. They found other preys but this time, I just waited on the sideline. Once the beast was down, I would join the others to get my share. Each time, the Sonic Bat crippled the beast and took a chunk out of it, leaving the rest for the lesser bats like me to handle.

I used my " Echolocation " and " Appraisal " constantly during the hunt, making them evolve one more level! I decided to use them on our next target. Soon enough, I spotted giant rat. One of the bat ahead grabbed it and swallowed it whole but I could get the name of it:

" Elro Griem LV. 4 "

 _ **Oh? It show the levels now? That's awesome!**_

As we killed a six-legged wolf, the sonic bat screeched something and the more experimented bats seemed to have understand. I was full at that point so I looked at what they were doing. They actually put the wolf in pieces and instead of eating it, they flew back in the direction we came from. I finally understood: they were bringing it back to the cave.

 _ **Well that was a good hunt... But in the same time, that deer... I should be more careful from now on. I got cocky there.**_

As the sonic bat leaded the way, I tried to use Appraisal again:

" Elro Sonic Bat LV. 16 "

 _ **Level 16 ?! Well I'm not close to it... I'll need to train a lot more it seem... but the path for it seem so long!**_

I decided that instead of just sleeping the days off in the cave like most of the other bats, I would continue to hunt by myself. However, I would play it safe and only goes for low level targets with sneak attacks. Unfortunately, it also meant most of the creature I ate during my training were low level poisonous creature. On the plus side, it did build my poison resistance by quite a lot. I would only come back in the cave once I'm too tired to continue hunting.

The next few days went on like that and my level and skills had increase a few times. I began to realize I was a lot more agile then most of the other bats already. I figured that it was probably because of all my skills and flying practice. With the raise in level of " Appraisal ", I figured out that I had a Hit Points (HP), Magic Points (MP) and Stamina Points (SP) bars. I figured more also about the Elro Labyrinth I was into and the fact it joined two continents was amazing.

One day however... something great happened. I had just killed an " Elro Griem" rat creature by dropping from the ceiling stealthily when suddenly the mysterious voice spoke again:

" Condition Met. Title Assassin Received. "

" The effects of the Title Assassin : Skill " Stealth LV.1 " and " Shadow Magic LV.1 " received. "

" Stealth LV.1 " has unified into " Stealth LV. 4 "

When I heard that, my heart beat increased from the excitement. I used Appraisal on " Shadow Magic ":

" Low rank magic that controls shadows. The strength of spells depend of the level. LV. 1: Dark Shadow "

 _ **Wait, it's only a low rank magic? Well it's magic anyway so it's still cool. But how to I use it? There is no instruction!**_

I tried to use Dark Shadow but nothing happened. I was getting frustrated so I decided to eat my prey first and then fly up above to hang upside down. I tried to recall the video games I being playing but nothing managed to work to activate it.

 _ **GRRR! DARN IT! I died as a virgin, I should have become a wizard when reincarnated, why it didn't happen! Bah, whatever.**_

I looked at my HP bar. Even after sleeping, it never went back to its fullest in the recent days. I had hoped I would eventually get another level to restore it fully but after each level, it proven more difficult. Maybe it was because I most often attacked target with lower levels then me? I really wish I could cast healing magic. I shrugged:

 _ **Since I can't use magic, I won't be able to cast a healing spell. Something like "white magic" would have being -**_

Suddenly, I saw something from the corner of my eyes further down the corridor... By using my echolocation, I was surprised to see something who left me astonished: **HUMANS!**

None of them was speaking. They seemed focused on their surroundings. I could hear the faint noises of their armor and weapons from where I was. The two in the front were a lot younger, one with a torch and the other carrying a bow. If they weren't obviously so visibly ready to duke any monsters they see, I think I might have lost myself and fly in their direction. But fortunately, I didn't. I blinked, watching them getting closer for a moment... before deciding I should go back to the cave.

 _ **Urk, they would clearly attack me if I go to them. Better back down...**_

Unfortunately... flying away seemed to have given away my position. I heard a whistling sound but before I could do anything, an arrow literally pierced my right buttcheek!

Now panicking, I tried to ignore the pain and I flew faster, pushing myself to hide behind a corner... only to arrive in front of a giant snake! The shadow of death was near as I was trapped between a group of human and a giant snake. I knew that this could be over right now and this sort of life crisis made rise every hair of my panicked body

Swearing inwardly, the snake was fortunately surprised by my sudden appearance. He still tried to bite me but I managed to dodge it. I counterattacked by biting it behind its head!

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Evasion LV. 1" has become "Evasion LV.2 "

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Pain Resistance LV.1 " has become learned. "

 _ **That's great and all but I can't deal with you right now, you stupid snake!**_

The snake tried to go forward and hit me on the stone wall. I had to let go of my hold on it and flew back under cover while the human could probably see the giant snake who just appeared within their line of sight. I didn't stay to find out. I was flying akwardly because of the injury, the arrow made it harder to fly around. I finally managed to land on a large enough rock formation on the ceiling to hang on. The pain was intense but I removed the arrow from my body thanks to my tail. Unfortunately, it broke and the head of the arrow was still stuck in my flesh!

 ** _Ah great, just what I needed. Darn, my HP almost went all down from a single arrow!_**

I dropped the rest of the arrow and went back to hide in the cavern. I decided to take a nap to recover from this near-death experience. I don't know how much time I slept but it was an uneasy sleep as I had to sleep through the pain. When I woke up, I felt a bit groggy too, like I overslept. I was surprise to hear the mysterious voice told me:

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Pain Resistance LV.8 " has become learned. " Pain Resistance LV.9 "

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Automatic HP Recovery LV.1 " has become learned. "

 _ **Oh, THAT skill! It means I got something like "Regeneration" now? Well that's neat I suppose but I wonder if it will be enough if that arrowhead is still...**_

I winced from the pain. Yet, that arrowhead was still there alright. I was anxious but I decided to just stay here in the cave. I wasn't wasting SP if I was waiting to recover and if my guess was right, if my HP does go up, that arrowhead should be pushed out of my body eventually. Sure I was putting my hope on "videogames logic" but I would rather betting on that then thinking I could get a infection. Their not much else I could do anyway with my health almost all depleted. And to my relief, after a few minutes, my HP did go up! It was just a bit slow.

 _ **Darn, I need to remember the roads the human take to avoid them or to at least find the exit of this darn place! I wonder if their is a skill that could help me find that exit.**_

I felt the pain had lessen in my sleep as the skill " Pain Resistance " had rose up in levels but it was still painful. After confirming there was a skill named " Memory ", I decided to try to train it for now. After I took a few hours to recall memories from my previous life and trying to remember the paths I went in this maze, the mysterious voice spoke to me again:

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Memory " has become learned. "

I was relief. Maybe this way, I would be able to make a mental map or something of this place. After what seemed like forever, I felt the arrowhead was getting slowly expelled from my wound. As I was finally able to remove it with my tail, I gained another skill!

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Piercing Resistance LV.1 " has become learned. "

" Skill proficiency reached. Skill " Pain Resistance LV.9 " has become " Pain Nullify "

" Conditions met. Skill " Pain Alleviation LV.1 " has being derived from skill " Pain Nullify "

I sighed of relief now that this ordeal was over with. I didn't know you could gain the ability to resist pain but it was welcomed. I waited, again, that my HP went up. Now that the arrowhead was gone, it was going way faster then before. When it was at 3/4 of its maximum however, my SP was at 1/3 of its total. The hunting team just came back so I couldn't count on them as well. I decided to go see if the corpse of the snake was still here. It was a bit reckless, sure, but I had spent a lot of time in the cave to recover and really wanted to stretch my wings. Of course, I used my " Echolocation" all the way to be safe. I would even use it behind me to prevent surprise attacks.

As I arrived, I noticed that the humans had killed the snake. There was a spider monster right next to it, already who had already eated half of the snake. I never saw this monster before so I used my " Appraisal " skill on it. It was a " Small Taratect " and it was actually only one level higher than mine. Not only that but I was also coming from behind in its blind spot. I closed in carefully and crushed it in one bite. I didn't eat it though, the taste and texture was awful and I had the rest of the snake to eat anyway.

But then... as I spit out the spider body... Heavens decided to prove me it had a sick sense of humour:

" Experience points have reached the fixed amount. Small Lesser Cave Bat LV.5 have become Lv.7 "

" Experience points have reached the fixed amount. Small Lesser Cave Bat LV.6 have become Lv.8 "

 _ **WHAT ?! It's NOW that I'm actually gaining levels ?! When that I was so close to be full on HP ?! ARE YOU ****ING KIDDING ME ?!**_

I felt like this world was playing with my sanity. Not only the life as a monster was dangerous but I was feeling like the system isn't fair. If I didn't played videogames, I wouldn't have think of the " Appraisal " skill for example. I wondered if my other classmates were reincarnated here and would have as much luck.

 ** _I might have even eat one of them from all I know... Urk, let's not think about that possibility ever again._**

I ate the rest of the snake, which of course tasted awful because of the poison and the decay. If it wasn't because I was starting to get really hungry, I might have changed my mind. After that, I decided to return to the cavern.

The days went like this... full of danger, eating awful stuff and just training to get stronger. I was wondering if I would be strong enough to challenge the bat leader of our cave one day... Or get to the surface. I didn't want to think that far ahead however. The only thing my gaming experience told me is that I could maybe serve a human master who would give me good food instead of what I had to eat here. But for that, I would probably need to become a lot stronger.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I'm not sure what to say this time. I love this fanfic and plan to write a lot more since I'm having an easier time writing this fanfic then my other ones. A lot of stuff happened in RL however, I might not always be able to post new chapters this quickly.

 **EDIT:** I found the online light novel that the manga was based off. I found out a few things that weren't explained in the manga and did some slight change because of it. In short:

1) He gained the " Automatic HP Recovery skill " because of his injuries instead of buying the skill off. Turns out each level don't give as much skills point then I thought they would give, at least for Kumo-chan it was only 20 skills point per level. Her advantages over humans are monster abilities, evolutions and how she can gain skills through experience with challenges more easily. Evolutions seem to give 100 skill points so I'm going to keep that for my own OC too.

2) I made the Night Vision be on the Small Cave Bat skill list but it was growing slower than its evolution.

3) He didn't get a " Throwing " skill. Replaced it with " Piercing Resistance " to reflect the challenge he faced.


	3. My first evolution!

**vanzeelliot:** Thank you for pointing me their was a light novel! I had NO IDEA! It have being very useful too! PS; Do not worry, I didn't kill Kumo-chan. On the other hand, my character have no idea how dangerous that Tarrasect was. Notice how he forgot to Appraise it because he was too confident? Yeah, that was a close one too but he will never know! XD

 **My first evolution!**

I wondered if life would be good with a human master. I would have to choose him carefully though if I do. When I looked into my own status with " Appraisal ", it told me I had " No Name ". I figured it was because name were given by humans in this world and that the one he had in his previously life didn't seem to be valid here.

 ** _Urg, not only my future master need to be kind but he better not name me something stupid like " Batty Batbat" or worst, something insulting like " Guano ". I hope it will be a beautiful girl of my age when I was..._**

A sudden image of the past bursted in my head. A girl in the litterature club I was part. I had a crush on her but never confessed. Then my thought shifted to my family back in my homeworld. I wish I could see them one more time...

Living at the city had being a challenge for me. I rose up in the countryside and missed it everyday. I moved in with my aunt in the city only because I needed to graduate from a better school then the one at the countryside if I wanted to go to the university. I was the oldest son, with 2 little sisters and a baby brother. I wanted to become an animal doctor. I didn't want to be in a relationship in highschool because I didn't believe it would lead me anywhere. After all, what's the point if they don't plan to follow the same university? It was already hard enough for me to follow the lessons at school anyway, didn't have time for anything else. I thought I had all the time in the world when it comes to romance.

The thought I died as a virgin however still made me upset. If I had knew this would happen, I might have reconsider what I was doing with my life back then... But now that I was a bat monster, it's too late for regrets. Just thinking of doing those kind of things with a bat made me shiver in disgust.

 ** _No freaking way! Even as a bat I have standards! I refuse to even think about it!_**

A few days passed again, becoming a week. And finally, my level increased to LV. 9 during my last hunt. I was gaining experience more quickly in my training in solo but I liked to still go on hunt with the rest of the bats. At least it was safer this way and I had nothing better to do anyway. One of the skills that increased with my last level was " Appraisal " to become LV.6. I didn't think much of it at first so I took the time to eat before checking my own status:

* * *

Small Cave Bat LV. 9 No Name

HP: 156 MP: 76 SP: 156/156 - 123/156

Attack: 88 Defense: 75 Resistance: 80

Magic: 38 Speed: 66

* * *

 ** _Oooooh, I can see my stats now! AWESOME! I'm not sure if that makes me weak or strong though... W-Wait... WHAT ?! My weakest stat is MAGIC ?! GRRR! Bah, whatever! I'll discover how to cast spells eventually._**

After that, my solo hunting time came. Even though I found some of those giant centipedes, I decided to ignore them. My " Paralysis Resistance " was so high that it didn't numb my tongue anymore so they weren't worth it. Besides, they were so low level that I wouldn't have got anything from it. I decided to go after a lone " Elro Wolf " instead. My highest skill was " Echolocation" who had reach level 10. I wanted to train my "Stealth" skill to the same level. It was already so good that hitting my targets with an ambush from behind had become relatively easy. Once I killed it... I gained a new title!

" Conditions met. Title [ Monster Slayer ] received. " Powerful LV.1 " and " Sturdy LV.1 " has being gained."

 ** _Oh? The name of those skills sound very promising. Hummm... These hunts had become relatively easier lately. With those skills, maybe I could try targeting a group of monsters on my own now?_**

With this in mind, I decided to aim for a group of creature that travel in pack. It took some time but I finally found a group of three lizards, who were jumping on their forelegs to advance. Two of them was level 8 and one was level 7. Instead of going with an ambush this time, I went directly for them. Unfortunately for me, their cooperation was quite good. Each time I was going low enough to bit one of them, the other two were trying to bit my wings to ground me. That would be my death if they succeeded. I gave up in the end and flew away. I was disappointed with myself, especially since managed to injure me a little.

 ** _So I guess that's why bats hunt together. I'm not even high level enough to kill those lizards in a direct confrontation. What a pain._**

I decided it wasn't worth changing tactics for now and returned to my ambushes tactics. I couldn't find prey strong enough near the cavern so I had to adventure a bit further. Upon my exploration, I found a huge pit that I couldn't see the bottom, even with my "Echolocation" skill. I couldn't explore more because close to this pit was a lot of wasp monsters. They weren't worth hunting and they were many of them so I went elsewhere. Soon enough, I found one of those huge snake and decided to go for it. I already knew I couldn't ambush those guys since they seemed able to discover my presence easily so I had to fight it head on. Fortunately, I was stronger than it and killed it with relative ease despise the snake being close to my level.

 ** _Strange, it never was that easy before... Maybe it's my new title? Yeah, that's probably it._**

I was excited to discover that I was right. My hunts had become easier in the next two days. On the third day however, something new happened. My luck had being quite good that day as I found this small cavern where an injured lion monster was trying to recover. After killing it in its sleep, my level increased to LV.10 and that mysterious voice said:

* * *

Condition cleared. Individual Small Cave Bat is able to evolve. There are multiple options of evolution. Please choose from the following:

 **Cave Bat**

 **Small Sonic Bat**

* * *

I was surprised and excited about this. I decided to wait before I eat this lion creature to see what my level gave me. I had a lot to think off anyway as my " Flying " and "3-D Manouver " skill also become level 10 when I leveled up. Althought both skills were at at the first level, one was an awesome improvement while the other was a disappointement. My new flying was called " High Speed Flying" and as the name said, my flying speed improved by quite a lot. However, the other skill evolved into " Space Manouever " and it seemed a bit useless for a flying creature. However, their was something that both skill though me: skills could evolve!

The fact my skills could evolve into something else was mind-blowing to me and I was wondering if there was other skills who were close to level 10 I could train and see if they would evolve. By gaining a level, I was sure my status and skills would improve after all. Maybe I would even get new skills if I'm lucky?

This cavern didn't have lots of rock formation for a bat to hang upside down but I finally settled on one of them. I started to think seriously about my incoming evolution.

 ** _Urk, I saw both adult and small version of my own specie in the bat swarm but I only saw our leader as a " Sonic Bat ". So I guess it's an evolution that is more rare and powerful. If I pick that, I might gain new abilities too!_** ** _Fine, I'll pick that one!_**

* * *

" Individual Small Cave bat evolves to Small Sonic Bat"

* * *

 ** _Oh? It's that simple? I don't feel different and I'm not glowing or anything. So when does it - Huh?_**

It happened suddenly. I felt dizzy and I lost consciousness. Fortunately, the grip of my prehensile tail never got loose when I was sleeping. It was the same this time. I'm not sure how much time I was unconscious but when I woke up, I felt very hungry. Fortunately, the body of the lion below was still here. As I was chewing, I remembered the eating habits of the only other " Sonic Bat " I ever encountered and I wondered if I could do the same. I braced myself and took a bite that cut even through the bones of the leg I was chewing on. After I made sure to turn everything into a paste in my mouth and swallowed, I was relief to hear the mysterious voice one again:

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Iron Stomach LV.1 " has become " Iron Stomach LV.2 "

 ** _HAHA! So that's the skill that made our " Sonic Bat " leader able to eat everything it could bite! Huh, well it doesn't make the taste any better but each bite does seem more fulfilling now... Although I'll probably need to start eating with my eyes closed. It feels so weird._**

As I was chewing my meal, I tried to use my echolocation. At the beginning, I had to think of the word " Echolocation " for my body to react and my little squeaks to actually use this new sense. As I got more familiar with it and leveling it up, I was now able to use it automatically. It had being like training a new muscle or something. Now, it had become natural and I could do it without focusing on it. I was trying to scan outside of the cavern with my " Echolocation" between two bites when I sensed something new. The sound vibrated more intensely in my throat and when I heard my own voice, not only it gave me a headache but my surrounding felt like they were moving! My head was spinning and I felt nauseous. I felt down flat on the ground and fought to remain conscious... and just to add to the pain in my head, the mysterious voice told me:

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Heresy Resistance LV.1 " has become learned. "

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Fainting Resistance LV.1 " has become learned. "

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Concentration LV. 6 " has become "Concentration LV.7 "

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Calculation Processing LV. 6" has become "Calculation Processing LV.7 "

Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Memory LV. 4" has become " Memory LV.5 "

I think it's only because of those two new skills that I remained conscious. While the boost of lot of my mental stats should have make me happy, I was feeling too sick to be happy about it. It took me a while to return to feel less dizzy, my hunger more craving then before. I forced myself to eat, my eyes still closed. I realized was not just hungry, I was starving! I was now eating the lion like my life depended on it!

 ** _Darn, I'll need to check what is wrong with my " Echolocation " skill after I'm done eating. Holy cow, I never was that hungry before! And I don't think I saw the " Sonic Bat " eat so much either. Could it be because I just evolved?! It's a good thing I didn't eat the lion beforehand! I'll need to be careful about that in the future._**

Before long, I suddenly realized I ate the whole lion! The fact that absolutely nothing remained behind made me realize that having my eyes closed during the fact was clearly the best choice. Not wanting to feel more nauseous, I pushed down this thought and try to focus on getting some rest. I fly back on the ceiling above. I was still feeling a bit hungry but my mind was just too tired, I had to take a small nap. Once I woke up, I looked at my status. I was stunned to see that not only I returned to LV.1 but my SP bar was only half full and that my HP bar had went down without my knowledge!

 ** _Ooooh... When I was starving earlier, could it be my HP bar went down? Darn, I better make sure to eat my fill!_**

The news weren't all bad however. My stats increased by a lot and I got some new skills that seemed promising. I also realized my normal vision had become a lot better than before. I could see things more clearly in the dark now. Although I wasn't sure yet why my echolocation skill changed, it was reassuring that I didn't need to rely on it so much now.

A few minutes later my HP bar was full so I went to hunt again. I quickly realized that without my echolocation, stealthy tactics would be harder. And I couldn't afford to pass out and try to familiarize myself with this new "echolocation" skill of mine, not when I was still hungry. For the same reason, just waiting somewhere for a prey to come back would resolve on luck.

Now that I evolved, I decided to go for the direct approach as long as my prey was lower in level then myself. The only plus side is that I realized after evolving that the flapping on my wings were more quiet, making my flight more stealthy naturally. I suspected it was a new skill I had or maybe it was the nature of " Sonic Bat" to control the sound they emit to such degree? In any case, I was hoping it would improve as I level up.

I finally found a suitable target, two of those " Elro Basilik ". I easily killed the first one with a sneak attack, dodged the gaze of the second one and killed it promptly after that. Only after I was sure they were both dead that I started eating. The day was full of surprised as something new happened as the mysterious voice told me:

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Diamond Teeth LV.9 " became " Diamond Teeth LV.10 " "

" Conditions Met. " Diamond Teeth LV. 10 " became " Diamond Skeleton LV.1 "

 ** _Oh, the name of that new skill sound very cool! Hey wait a moment here... Did my wings become heavier?!_**

Unfortunately for me, after the skill evolved, I felt a lot heavier than before. Grumbling, I could already guess that it would affect my flying. If you thought about it logically, it would increase my attack, my defense and maybe my resistance but at the cost of my speed. I wasn't really happy at the thought it would reduce my flying speed and maybe even make my Stamina Bar go down faster... As I finished my meal, I checked my status. Turns out the skill " Diamond Skeleton " was just like I thought it would be.

 ** _Bah, new skills are always welcomed. Beside, maybe it will evolve again in the future..._**

Now that my stamina bar was full, I decided to keep exploring a bit before returning to the bat colony. As I suspected, even if I had the " High-Speed Flying LV.1", it wasn't enough to compensate for the skill " Iron Skeleton LV.1" weight increase. I was merely as fast as I was before my " Flying" skill evolved. However, I still felt like I was more powerful then before and I wondered if the leader of my bat colony had as much skills as I had.

After a moment, I found something unexpected: an abandoned human campsite! From the looks of it, it seem they had to leave in a hurry. There was a faint smell of blood and medicine in the air.

 ** _Humm, maybe I should try to track them down to the surface. Oh well, it's " Appraisal " time now! It will probably level up after this!_**

I have being human once so of course, I knew most items in their campsite of course. However, one of the thing particular about this "Appraisal" skill was that its level way increased more quickly if I try it on new things. Although most of the items here were either broken items or junk, it was the first time I could appraise something like it. Case and point, I had just started when my skill " Appraisal LV.6 " became " Appraisal Lv.7 "!

 ** _Oh, good! Now, let's see what Appraisal can tell me about my own status... Ok, nothing new about the stats... W-wait... A SKILL DISPLAY!?_**

* * *

3D Manoeuvering LV.10 High-speed Flying LV.1 Space Manouever LV.1 Blindsense LV.1 Wailing LV.1 Diamond Skeleton LV.1

Iron Stomach LV.2 Appraisal LV.7 Concentration LV.8 Calculation Processing LV.8 Memory LV.6 Stealth LV.8 Evasion LV.3

Dash LV.2 Shadow Magic LV.1 Night Vision LV.6 Powerful LV.2 Sturdy LV.2 Accuracy Lv.3 Automatic HP Recovery LV.3 Balance LV.3

Paralysis Resistance LV.5 Petrification Resistance LV.3 Poison Resistance LV.5 Acid Resistance LV.4 Corrosion Resistance LV.2

Piercing Resistance LV. 2 Fainting Resistance LV.1 Heresy Resistance LV.1 Pain Nullify Pain Alleviation LV.1

Divine Medicine Synthesis LV.1 n%1=W

* * *

 ** _HOLY COW! Appraisal, thank you so much! Now I can asset skills I didn't even knew I had!_**

Since their wasn't any place to hang on the ceiling, I climbed the walls to get to a higher place before using " Appraisal" on all those skills. After making sure I was in a safe spot where I couldn't be at the end of a sneak attack, I started to use " Appraisal" on my skills. Here's a few results, starting with skills that seem related to being a bat monster:

" Blindsense: A unique skill from certain monster species that gives Material Perception, Presence Perception and Space Perception. When the body of the user move, the energy created become ultrasonic soundwaves that act like the echolocation sense. "

" Iron Stomach: The rank is added as correction to SP recovery and against abnormal status throught ingestion. "

" Wailing: A mid-range sonic attack that cause the " Disturb " status. "

 _ **Oooh, so my echolocation became this " Wailing " skill and I generate this " Blindsense" skill as I move. Combined with " Nightvision ", its very useful! This " Iron Stomach " skill make me think of those vultures back home. Their gastric acid were strong enough to dissolve bones, it could be the same thing here. Now, let's see those skills I gained with the " Monster hunter " title:**_

" Powerful: The skill level is added to the attack as correction. "

" Sturdy: The skill level is added to the defense as correction."

 _ **Ah so they are passive skills. I gained the first two with the new title and it looks like I gained the other two by evolving. Well sure they arent flashy but leveling them up will be so useful. What I'm more curious about thought is THOSE two skills:**_

" Divine Medicine Synthesis: The ability to make divine medicine."

" Heresy Resistance: Allow the owner a resistance against attacks that target the soul. "

 ** _Sigh, that would have being so useful to know I had that when I was hurt by that arrow the other day. I wonder how or why did I get that though. Doesn't seem like something a bat would have... but I'll take it! As for the other, Just the fact their is attacks that target " the soul " is quite scary. If I remember correctly, souls are the immaterial and immortal part of a human being. I wonder if it mean there is one or more gods that exists in this dimension. It would explain why this one give "divine" medicine as well as why my soul survived that... phenomenon in the classroom._**

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Memory LV.6 " has become " Memory LV.7 "

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Predicting LV.1 " has become learned. "

 ** _Wow, so I was right! I even gained a new skill in the process! Thank you " Memory " skill! Sigh, it feels like it's the closest thing to a conversation I'll have for a long while._**

After looking at the new skill with Appraisal, I realized it was a skill that rewarded my reasonning process. So while not useless, it could give me some useful hints that I wouldn't be able to get otherwise. After all, I can only use Appraisal on things in front of me. From when I learned the skill though, it meant their IS one or more gods in this world. I wasn't sure what to think about that. I was hoping they would be the benevolant kind but in the same time, I was ressurected as a bat monster. I wish I knew the religions of this world, it could have give me some clues.

Finally, there was some strange text in the skill display, that "n%1=W" skill. Appraisal couldn't help me with that so I decided to not care about it for now. What I decided to focus on is to train my " Wailing " skill. I was not eager to use it again but the benefits from it were too good to pass up. Not only it would improve its efficiency but using it would also improve my mental skills quicker than if I trained them normally. Speaking of which, both my " Concentration " and " Calculation Processing " skills were super high and I wanted to see if they would evolve into something else. Also, I knew I couldn't use it with the rest of the bat colony so I had to train it on my own. Practicing it a few times resulted in a lot of pain but I proven to be determined and patient. The result of my training was:

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Wailing LV.1 " has become " Wailing LV.3 "

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Heresy Resistance LV.1 " has become " Heresy Resistance LV.3 "

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Fainting Resistance LV.1 " has become " Fainting Resistance Lv.3 "

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Memory LV.7 " has become " Memory LV.9 "

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Concentration LV.9 " has become " Concentration LV.10 "

" Conditions Met. " Concentration LV. 10 " became " Thought Acceleration LV.1 "

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Calculation Processing LV.9 " has become " Calculation Processing Lv.10 "

" Conditions Met. " Calculation Processing LV. 10 " became " High Speed Calculation LV.1 "

 ** _Urk, that will be enough. Let's go back with the colony and get some rest. I'll check what are those skills afterward._**

As I was flying back to the cave I was born, my " Blindsense " skill rose of one level. I was glad to know it would increase on its own without me doing anything more than flap my wings. It's only when it gained a level in it that I realized that I could see the walls of the tunnel around me. I could even see those small "snailbugs" on the walls all around me that no bats would eat... or any other monsters for that matter. I didn't dare to try them, they were too small anyway. I figured my "Blindsense" range would improve as it gained skill ranks in it.

My " Memory " skill proven useful to return back to the colony and not get lost. It took me a while but I finally arrived... but I had no idea of what happened there when I was gone.

 ** _AUTHOR'S NOTE:_** I decided to use the horizontal lines to show status boxes! Also, for the records, the main character in the manga probably is close to level 10 of her second evolution. He is definitely falling behind in levels but he have more time to train his skills then her because of it, even if his level is lower.


	4. Becoming a leader!

**Becoming a leader!**

When I arrived at the cavern, I knew something was wrong before I ever got there. Thanks to my " Blindsense " and " Night Vision ", I noticed a few injured bats far away outside of the cavern... injured or unmoving.

I stopped going forward, becoming wary of what was ahead. I try to focus my hearing very hard to maybe hear something unusual. I could hear the bats squeaking but nothing else... until the mysterious voice told me:

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Enhanced Hearing LV.1 " has become learned. "

As soon as I got this skill, I heard some of the bat screech and the flap of wings more clearly. I still couldn't identify a threat from either " Blindsense ", " Night Vision " or " Enhanced Hearing ". I did discover that my mental strength had already recovered but I was feeling like resting now and this new development was giving me a headache. I decided to fly stealthy toward the cave, where I could finally asset more clearly what happened...

 **Humans.**

They came here. I'm not sure what they wanted exactly but I could see a broken cage nearby, big enough for even our leading " Sonic Bat " to fit in. There was a weird paper with strange writing on it placed on the cage. There was also a few nets threw in the cavern, each containing cave bats of different strength. It seem like they used this to constraint them. A lot of them had being killed though and a few with arrows still planted in their corpse. A lot of them had a few deep cut on their body. Most of them dead bats were mostly concentrated at the cavern entrance. Just from this, I could guess the bats didn't use the layout to their advantage. The cave entrance was way smaller then the cave itself. They were restrained in movement because of it.

This place reeked of blood too. I knew it would attract other monsters. And indeed, it seem they had fought a group of those giant centipedes as a few of the bats were munching on some of them, with the pincers of those giant bugs (or even the remains of their whole head) still grabbing the bodies of the bats in their death.

As I was wondering what to do next, the bats noticed me. There was a strange reaction from most of them. They stopped whatever they were doing and fixed their gaze on me. It was a bit unnerving and I was wondering why they were acting like that before realizing it might be because I evolved.

 ** _Oh true. Only our leader had evolve. So maybe they see the evolved Sonic Bat as superior? I didn't realize it before but that "Blindsense" skill must look like I have a spotlight on me at all time from their point of view._**

To test my theory, I flew toward the closest one. It backed away inside the cavern, seemingly unwilling to let me approach it. As it did however, it seem it provoked a chain reaction from some other bats. Some squawked a bit aggressively but didn't dare to come close... at least most of them. One of them from inside the cave had his gaze locked on me and was flying in my direction. Sensing the threat, I used Appraisal on that one:

* * *

Bat Cave LV.15 Status Appraisal Failed

* * *

I didn't have time to ponder what to do. I started to charge toward him. Although I was lower level then him, I knew I had lots of skills to use to my advantage. Using the combination of " High-speed Flying", " 3D-Manouver ", " Dash " and " Evasion ", I was more agile then any other bats in this colony and I knew it. My foolish opponent tried to bite me in midair but he was moving way slower than me. With a well-timed flap of the wings, I dodged easily, flying above him. Then I used my tail and wrap it around his neck while diving to bite the tail. In this grapple, not only he was being chocked, he also couldn't shake me off with his tail and I was preventing him to fly as well. We crashed heavily on the floor. Unfortunately, I ended up receiving some damage from it but I had no doubt it was way worst for my opponent. He began to struggle but it was in vain. He couldn't reach me from this position and I was choking him hard. This was the difference between human intellect and a beast intellect!

Well, that's what I thought before something else happened. It seem seeing the both of us struggling on the group made us " vulnerable" for the others bats around us. Seeing an opportunity to finish us both, they charged us! A shiver went down my spine but I reacted accordingly: I released my grip on my opponent's tail. This allowed him to slash me with his tail, cutting down my HP. This attack was stronger than expected and it would have made me flinch if I didn't have the " Pain Nullify " skill. However, he only had time for one attack before I unleashed my secret weapon:

 **WAILING!**

I screamed at the top of my lunges. The disorientation and headache sensation was strong since the skill was at level 3 but so was my " Heresy Resistance" skill. Fortunately, I was already on the ground, laying down on my opponent body. The other bats however weren't as lucky. All the bats around me ended up falling on the ground, unable to move. My grasp on my opponent throat at relaxed a bit but since he was the closest to me, he was hit the hardest by the effect actually and actually puked. Rethinking about the fight later, I would be surprised he didn't faint from the attack. Because of " Heresy Resistance ", I was still the one who regained his senses faster and returned to what I was doing: choking the hell out of the bat below me while grabbing his tail. The resistance was now getting weaker but it was still here.

 ** _Stop struggling and submit to me! You can't fight me in this position! You want to die?!_**

I don't know exactly why or how but as I was thinking this, I felt my own desire for his submission overwhelming the bat below me who finally stopped struggling. It was a strange sensation. When the sensation stopped, I released him from my grasp and used my talon to jump away from him. When he did, I received several blessing at once!

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Taming LV.1 " has become learned. "

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Taijutsu LV.1 " has become learned. "

" Conditions met. Title [ Commander ] received. " Cooperation LV.1 " and " Danger Perception LV.1 " has being gained."

I couldn't help but laugh loudly at everything I had gained from this fight. As a bat, it must have sound weird for others but I didn't care. Man, was I awesome or what?! I moved away from the bat I submitted, who rose up and looked at me with a neutral look.

 ** _I'm surprised I didn't get a level from that but whatever._** **_I got a new title that sound way more awesome then the one I had before and four new skills from that fight alone! They sound promising too, let's see what " Appraisal" have... Wait, what's happening now?_**

It seem the bats had already recovered from my " Wailing " skill but now, a lot of them were flying next to me, releasing strange squeaking sound. I wasn't detecting any hostile intention from them, thx to my new " Danger Perception" skill but I was perplexed at their following actions. I had heard those sound before from the back of the cavern we were in but never dared to get close to the leader to find out what was happening. Not only that but because I was on the ground, some even landed next to me... showing me their butt?

Then it hit me like a truck: those were female bats in heat. A shiver went down my spine. My body was one of a bat and the basic instincts of this body of mine were suddenly urging me to procreate... I resisted it with all my might, I flapped my wings to get some distance. As I did, I received ANOTHER skill:

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Charm Resistance LV.1 " has become learned. "

 ** _Urg, seriously?! Ah man, this is going to be a problem. That "urge" have lessened a bit... but I can't concentrate like this either. Man, I'm a SMALL Sonic bat. Shouldn't you go for the adult bats around here? Darn it, it's probably because I became the new alpha now. And from this stupid body reaction, I could do it if I really wanted. Man, what a pain! To think I came back here because I just wanted to sleep too!_**

Those bats wouldn't leave me alone though so I had to fly to the ceiling and choose a spot next to wall. Even with my face turned against the wall, their presence around me and their particular squeaking was a constant torture for my mind and the only thing I could do was to resist it. My only consolation about all of this was that I hoped I would reach " Charm Immunity " eventually. The skill " Charm Resistance had being rising as fast my " Pain Resistance " and I could only grind my teeth and grasp for that hope.

Although I did consider leaving the cave, I felt it would bad if other monsters showed up. Since the humans seem to have leave recently, it would take a while before they would coming back. As for the monsters of this level, I was confident I could take them on with my higher status but I wasn't sure for the rest of the colony. Not only that but since I became the new leader, I had the feeling they would follow me everywhere anyway.

Since I was stuck here, I decided to concentrate my mind elsewhere. I started to look at my new skills thought Appraisal:

" Taming: The skill to make monsters submit to the user. "

" Taijutsu: " The skill level is added to the attack and movement skills as correction."

" Cooperation: The skill level is added as a correction to the actions made as a group. "

" Danger Perception: The perception skill to detect threats and imminent danger. "

" Thought Acceleration: Make the mouvements look slower around the user of the skill "

" High Speed Calculation Processing: The skill is added as correction for mental calculation purpose "

 ** _Wow, all of those skills are awesome! Well except maybe Calculation Processing... Still not useful for a bat. Wow I have so many skills to train now that I probably would not have time to train magic if I had it... Well, no, that's a lie. I would surely find the time to train it if I knew how._**

I suddenly had a flash of inspiration:

 ** _Wait... Blindsense gave me several Perception related skills and now I even have Danger Perception. There should be a Magic Perception skill right? "_**

The mysterious voice answered my call:

" You have 200 skills. Magic Perception cost 100 skill points. Do you want to purchase Magic Perception? "

I shivered with excitement! By using Appraisal on the Magic Perception skill, I discovered it was the skill to sense magic energy.

 ** _Oooh... this MUST be a reason why I cannot use magic yet! If I want to use magic, I must have this skill first!_**

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Predicting LV.1 " has become Predicting LV.2. "

 ** _YEEES! Thank you Predicting skill, I love you! That answer my question! Yes, I'm buying this skill!_**

" You have bought Magic Perception. You have 100 skill points remaining "

After I bought the skill, I finally noticed the magic energy within myself. It was a new awesome feeling, a feeling of invigoration. I finally realized it was being able to sense my own mana. I wondered what I could do with this new energy within me. After several hours, I managed to circulate it around my body. It was difficult but I knew it was only at the very first level. I didn't want to try casting Shadow Magic yet because I felt my control was still sluggish. As I was training this skill, another skill appeared!

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Magic Manipulation LV.1 " has become learned. "

 ** _OH YEAH BABY! I really need to train those skills! Ok, let's set up a goal. Once they are level 5, let's try to cast Shadow Magic!_**

I returned my thoughts to the colony and those stupid bats in heat behind me. In the hours I being focusing on my new skills, my " Charm Resistance" had risen quite a bit. I was wondering if I should try to use my " Taming " skill on them to make them go away when they suddenly did it on their own. Before I could turn around to see what was going on, my "Danger Perception" skill warned me of an imminent treath!

I used my talon to jump downward and flapped my wings to avoid the incoming bat that was charging me. It almost hit the spot where I was, before growling and charging at me again. If I had being human, I would have frown. I had though acquiring my newest title would have prevent such rebellion...

However, the other bats of the colony couldn't match my speed. By doing hit and run tactics with my talons, this bat decided to give up and fly away. I hesitated but decided to follow it in the end. I was almost sure it was the same bat as before. As he realized I was going after him, he went for the exit. I chased it out of the cavern. Once we were outside, I could use Appraisal on it without risking a headache:

* * *

Cave Bat LV. 15 No Name

HP: 382 MP: 122 SP: 280 - 180/280

Attack: 190 Defense: 190 Resistance: 140

Magic: 100 Speed: 88

Loyalty: 10/100

Skills: Flying LV. 7, Diamond Teeth LV.6, Echolocation 6, Night Vision LV. 5, Heresy Magic LV.1, Cooperation LV. 1, Direction LV.1, Taboo Lv.1

Titles: Kin Eater, Guider

* * *

 ** _OH?! It show even the skills and titles now! Wait don't fly away, I need to study you!_**

I intercepted the beast who was getting scared of this restless pursuit. But since it wasn't calming down, I grabbed him and fallen to the ground with it. He stopped struggling but was trembling as I was grappling his neck this time.

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Intimidation LV.1 " has become learned. "

 ** _Darn, their NEED to be a better way to make them understand what I want! Urg, I need to be nice to it, so it understand I didn't want to kill it._**

For now, I decided to use " Divine Medicine Skill " on this minion of mine. It was surprised at first and then let a strange pleased squeak. I used it again and again until he healed completely. It was using MP but it was so little that I could probably a bathtub before I ran out of mana. The bat even started to roll on the ground in the puddle of medicine. Once I didn't see any visible wounds on him, I used Appraisal on him again.

 ** _WOW! His Loyalty increased to 40! Well at least that's a effective way to increase it's loyalty. And wow, my medicine actually increased its SP! WHAT?! It's a small amount but it's there! Does that mean I no longer need to eat awful stuff if I increase the level of that skill?!_** ** _AWESOME !_**

The bat was now just waiting for me to be finish. As I looked at his skills and his new titles, I discovered the " Taboo" skill was VERY bad. A skill to never have, probably given when you did something very wrong. I came to the conclusion that it was because of that critter two titles. If I was correct, " Kin Eater " gave him "Heresy Magic " and " Taboo " while the title " Guider " gave him the " Cooperation " and " Direction " skill. I figured I would need to guide a hunting team back to the cavern without getting lost a few times.

" Skill Proficiency reached. Skill " Predicting LV.3 " has become Predicting LV.4. "

Less surprisingly, " Appraisal " told me the " Direction" skill was pretty straightforward. It just to avoid getting loss, calculating distance and knowing where the north is. But I figured that combined with " Space Manoeuver " and " Balance" could only be good for me to learn as a flyer. Beside, a free skill IS a free skill. It should raise on its own anyway, I didn't plan to especially train it.

But first thing first... I needed a way to communicate with the bats. After a lot a lot of experimentation, I discovered what I needed: the "Telepathy" skill. Although it would probably be crude or short ranged at first, I was hoping they would allow my newest minion to be able to recognize one word commands. I had trained a dog before and to be honest, the perspective of training monsters to listen to me was a heartwarming thought. I always wished that once I would settle down on my own, I would own a dog or two. And besides, I naively thought that if I crossed humans again, we could avoid a confrontation if we could communicate properly. Considering all that, I bought the skill with my remaining points.

So now, I could hunt with the pack, heal the injured to increase my position as their leader and train a few skills all in the same time. But there was one thing I wanted to be sure: the pack safety. I studied the broken cage near our cavern, it seem to me they capture the past leader of the pack. I didn't want my pack to be raid like that before we could stand off to the humans if things were doing poorly. I wanted to find a new place to live... After a week, I finally found it!

I passed by it before but didn't enter it too deeply. Only because my memory skill evolved to the "Record" skill that I could I remember this place or the fact there was something beyond it. It was a large entrance to a steamy cavern. With my "Blindsense", I could see this was the place where the frogs monster established their home. I was curious to what was beyond so I leaded the pack in there. We flew high, close to the ceiling. If we flew too low, the frogs would throw acid at us. The steam itself felt acidic, not very pleasant for the skin. Fortunately, I had my " Acid Resistance" but the rest of the bat were not as lucky.

We finally reached the other side of the cavern which ended in a vertical tunnel. There was some hot air coming down from below. Above, it seem it was actually leading to a cavern. I leaded the group above... and was astonished!

The cavern was way bigger then I though. It seem it opened up on the north side in the past but that path have collapsed. There was a small gap it seem between the ceiling and the rocks in the way. It seemed just large enough for a bat to fly. The only other way to fly here was the one below where we came from. There was stalagmites all above but the ones in the middle couldn't be touched because of the hot air and bit of vapor coming from the hole. But was only a small flaw. I decided to move all the colony here.

They would gain "Acid Resistance" more easily here as well as well as " Heat Resistance". The cavern itself was must hotter because of the hot air rising up from the pit had almost nowhere to go. Like this, they would grow stronger by adapting to this new environment. I could help them too with my " Divine Medicine " skill!

It took a few days to move every bats here and a few of them died. Not a lot however thanks to my " Divine Medicine " skill but still... Turns out I was right and after a day or two, all bats got "Heat Resistance" and " Acid Resistance". My first and only minion loyalty was at the max now and he could obey some simple mental command. Speaking of which, I received the " Command " skill after my minion managed to do a few tricks like " Guard" or " Attack ". It seem it was to be used in pair with the " Taming " skill? It was kind of neat that I got it for free.

Then again... I was naive in thinking the colony safety was assured. One day... the world decided to show me how weak I was.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I did several changes/edit in the story since I posted it. The reason for that was that I discovered the light novel thanks to a kind reviewer. I had to make a few changes you might not even notice in the earlier chapters to remain truthful to that world original lore. But also, in short and without any spoilers, my OC probably will never become as strong as the MC of that novel. Because of that, I will probably have to stop my fanfic before reaching her level in strength. I'm not even sure I'll make it a good or bad ending. Please comments about it if you want, I'll take it in consideration.


	5. Spiders are scary!

**Changing Tactics**

After we arrived in our new home, I started increasing my skills constantly. I had so much to train now too, I could fight boredom quite easily. I was looking forward for the hunting part now but only because I could increase some of my skills even further this way. I barely did the hunting myself, almost like the past leader of the colony. Instead, I was giving my bat minion orders and the rest followed him naturally. It took a few attempts for the others bats to understand what I wanted but with a bit of patience, it went rather smoothly. At that point in time, I didn't want to increase the number of my bat minions however. I wanted to tame better monsters.

My magic skills increased steadily. I eventually reached my goal and tried to cast " Shadow Magic ". Turns out, the first levels weren't very useful. I didn't give up on it however, it was after all the only magic I could use right now. Each level gave a new spell to practice and I was hoping the higher levels of that magic would be more useful. Eventually, to my satisfaction, I got " Solid Shadow " at level 5. In those dark tunnels, shadows were everywhere. I already had a few ideas to make that spell useful...

One of the advantages off training my magic was that I gained magic related skills as well! But of course, magic was not the only skill I kept training. I trained every skills I could train...

My " Taming " skill quickly became the skill " Summon ". With it, I could summon a tamed monster from almost anywhere! Very useful but the distance and number of possible summons increased by the rank of the skill. My own minion strength increased too... but I wasn't very satisfied with it. I wondered if I took a young one and train it, I could maybe make it evolve into a Sonic Bat like myself. I wasn't keen in getting another bat minion but the experiment was worth trying. I found an acceptable one who was LV.8 and made it my new minion. I made sure to train it so that he would evolve quickly during the hunts. I was satisfied when I was given the option to make it evolve into a Sonic Bat, which I did. I made the pack gather food for it as I knew the poor thing would be hungry when it wakes up.

I was wondering if I could break the link between me and my very first minion now as I knew full well he wouldn't evolve anymore. In any case, once my second minion become stronger, I'll just make it in charge of the colony. I made sure to give it the skills needed for that though he learned them slowly. I figured just improving his "Wailing" skill would be enough though. I took him on private training session, increasing both our " Wailing " and " Heresy Resistance" in the same time. It was the best way to make sure he will replace me when I'm gone.

Such thoughts made me realize something however... I didn't want to stay as the leader of those bats. Don't get me wrong, my life in the colony was now comfortable (especially since I could use my Divine Medicine skill to relieve my hunger)... but I missed the countryside and the open sky above my head.

Such thoughts had become more and more frequent recently and improving my skills was no longer enough to distract me from them. One day, I finally decided I would need to leave the bat's colony soon. My level didn't increase much compared to my skills recently because I didn't beat enough monsters. I figured I should start either aiming for the other floors or see if I can follow the humans to the outside world.

I decided to first try to venture on the floors below to see the strength of the monsters there. I wanted to test my new skills and ability against something a bit more challenging. I figured that if I could face one of those winged lion for example, I could probably face some of the humans on my own if needed. I also wondered what my next evolution would be if I had one.

I finally decided to go on a special hunt down to the layers below. My " Fire Resistance" had become high enough so the heat wasn't affecting me. After a while, I noticed the tunnel curved slightly and I could see at the other end a red light. The heat from this place made my " Fire Resistance " skill rise up two times, it was that intense! The smell of sulfur had become stronger too, I could already guess I was heading to a volcanic area.

Sure enough, the floor opened in a huge hole with what looked like an ocean of lava and rocks. I was flying above the hole, trying to detect a hostile presence below... when a shiver down my spine called my " Danger Perception " skill warned me of something coming from ... behind me!

I used my Summon skill and called my first minion, the Adult Cave Bat, to act like a shield while I ducked below the hole. I barely heard a shriek from my minion before sensing something heavy landing on the ground behind me. I didn't need to turn around, my " Blindsense" skill told me it was a gigantic spider monster. My minion didn't stand a chance, it was swallowed even before that huge monster landed on the ground.

Everything after that happened very fast. A colony of monsters in the lava swam toward the spider intruder. I could sense they had either not noticed me or chosen to ignore me compared to the new threat. I slowed down and turned around to see the resulting fight. I moved slightly closer to use Appraisal on one of the minions of the big dragon in the front, who seemed like the big boss of this troop. The one I chose looked like a big black sea horse. Turns out he was higher level than me but that he was very lacking in skills. I was pretty sure I could defeat it from a distance but if its corpse felt in the lava pit, I wouldn't be able to retrieve it. But also... that was only on the condition it was alone. There was too many monsters to try anything and the dragon-like creature in the front was most probably too high level for me to handle.

The fight between the giant spider monster and those lava monster was horribly short. It only took one giant spell from the spider monster to kill most of the monsters in front of it! It gave me some cold shiver down my spine. If I had being just a tiny bit slower, I would have being killed earlier! The giant spider monster left calmly toward another hole in the ground nearby. I saw everything, shivering in fear. I didn't expect the middle level of this labyrinth to be so scary!

 _No, that spider monster is the scary one. It went back another level below. Im sure some of the monster here must be manageabe but I'm clearly not strong enough to go further down below!_

" Skill profiency reached. Skill "Predicting LV.9" became "Predicting LV.10 "

" Conditions Met. Predicting LV.10 has become Foresight LV.1 "

 _Ok, that's sweet and all but what should I do now?_

I was starting to wonder if I should just head back up the hole I came down from when I noticed the fire dragon from earlier wasn't dead. He seemingly spotted a small spider monster I didn't spot at first nearby. They proceeded to battle each other. I wondered what to do before noticing a few monsters who I thought were dead were actually squirming and trying to swim away. One of them was lying on the ground, far from the battle of the fire dragon. It seemed to be a smaller version of the fire dragon. The huge magic explosion from earlier knocked it back on the shore and it was clearly severely injured. Breathing heavily, it was trying to crawl back to the lava...

This was my chance! I flew at top speed toward it, no time for stealth. I wasn't sure the spider monster would be able to last long but I could recognize a good opportunity when I saw one. Appraisal told me that monster was a drake and that it was normally way stronger then I was. Right now however, it was very low on HP and I was confident to defeat it in one or two blow. It spotted me but it couldn't match my speed. It tried to use a fireball attack against me but I dodged it easily and counterattacked using my Wailing skill... but to my surprise, it didn't made it unconscious! Using Appraisal, I realized he had two rank in " Heresy Resistance " so it could endure the blow.

The creature now seemingly understood I was more dangerous then it thought. It retaliated with a tail whip. The attack was even faster then the fireball! I could see that if it missed me, it would land in the lava, sending lava all over and maybe even push the creature into the lava lake. I couldn't allow it to happen so I would have to endure the blow and catch the tail... not an easy task as a lightweight! On top of that, it released a stream of flame in my direction once its head had flipped at the right angle. Such move proven it was veteran battler. Fearing I was biting more then I could chew, I activated a new skill I got while training my magic: " Magic Act ". Then, using my Shadow Magic, I hardened the shadows around me:

 **SHADOW ARMOR!**

It looked outright sinister. I created this with a lot of practice. I could only use it when my Magic Act was active for now but I suspected it would be easier once I became more familiar with it. Although the shadow around me had hardened, it was also extremely light so it wasn't affecting my movement.

Not wasting time, I dodged narrowly the stream of flame but realized too late I couldn't dodge the tail completely because of it, even with my skills. It was probably due to that drake " Probability Correction " skill. I braced myself for the impact, biting hard while my own tail grappled the tail of the beast to make sure I wasn't throw away by the impact into the lava below. The hit was stronger then what I expected, it took half of my HP! Fortunately for me, my armor absorbed most of the impact and my " Diamond Tooth" skill was high level. It literally cut the tail in one bite! Hailing in surprise and agony, the creature lost balance and fallen on the side. Full of adrenaline and not wanting to give it a chance to rise up again, I dived to it's neck and gave one final bite. The drake twitched, only once, before it died.

 _Wow, two bites and it was down! How anticlimactic! I was hoping... Nah, forget it._

I realized it would be lying to myself if I thought I wanted an epic battle to try my new " Shadow Armor" magic. It proven to be quite effective though, it had blocked the tail whip damage quite effectively.

I looked back at the battle between the fire dragon and the spider further ahead... It seem it was still going?!

 _Wow, how strong is that little spider?!_

I had no time to ponder though. I didn't want to stay and face either of them for now. Beside, the mysterious voice announced me I gained so many levels and a lot of skills rose up in ranks! I was very satisfied of the results of my exploration... but what interested me the most was this: "

" Proficiency reached. The skill " Fighting Spirit LV.1" have being gained. "

" Condition met. Title " Drake Killer " received. "

" The effects of the title " Drake Killer ": " Life LV.1 " and " Drake Power LV.1" have being received. "

I was excited from it but in the same time, I was worried for the bat colony above. I used my Stealth skill to fly back where I came from and flew upward toward the colony. I was hoping they were safe...

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Sorry for the delay, again. But life is hard on my lately. Lots of stress. I have to move away, will be in training for a new job, etc. I have not given up on my two fanfics however. I just don't know when I'll have the time for it during the incoming summer. Also, I know he gained " the " Drake Power " title quite easily but it's because he had the golden opportunity to kill a high level drake who was almost dead. He just recognized a golden opportunity when he saw it... but their is another reason, something that will be revealed in a later chapter.


	6. The last preparations before leaving!

**The last preparations before leaving!**

As I left the middle floor of the Great Labyrinth, I was nervous. I suddenly realized that this long tunnel maybe was not as safe as I thought it was. I wanted to check on my skills but I had to consider the fact that monsters could drop on me if I was not careful. My heart was beating fast as I went up the draft as fast as I could. I had to revise my judgement on my " Space Maneuver " skill however. It was almost a magic on its own as each ranks gave a different ability!

The first one was a "double jump " skill. I could create a platform in midair. As a flyer though, I did not have much use for it. I couldn't use the platform as a shield either as it was rather fragile when I tried to smash it. However, my current needs gave me an idea. After some testing, I discovered that if I fuse my Shadow Magic with that platform, I could create a shield. I wanted to use this shield as I was flying upward, thinking it would not use my MP as much as my "Shadow Armor" skill. After all, covering my own body with an armor needed precise control of my magic. A simple shield did not.

However, it did not work out as planned. I soon realized that this shield was draining both my SP and my MP. The longer it was next to me, the higher the SP and MP consumption was. Although I could summon this "Shadow Shield" in an instant, it clearly had major flaws. I resigned myself in only summoning this in emergency. Maybe I could find a way to work around those flaws later on.

The second rank actually gave me the ability to lock all of my attacks on my targets. I did not have a precise ranged attack yet so I figured that I probably would need to get one next. Attacking at close range was dangerous after all and my " Wailing " attack range was not that long... I needed to use my range as a flying creature to my advantage. I was wondering if there was some kind of wind magic and if it would be easier for me to learn it as a flying creature...

" Proficiency reached. Predicting LV.9 has become Predicting Lv10"

"Proficiency reached. Predicting Lv.10 has become Foresight Lv.1"

" Skill "Wind Magic" cost 100 points to learn. Do you want to learn Wind Magic? "

 ** _Ooooh, well that's awesome! However, I wonder if I am able to learn Wind magic on my own... I got the basics down now with my Magic skills. I should give it a try. Skill Points are hard to get after all!_**

It was not really the time to think of all that though. I tried to refocus on my surrounding. As I was flying up the shaft, I didn't hear or see anything out of ordinary... until I arrived in that misty cavern level. It was deadly silent. I could not hear some splashing of water, no occasional croaking, nothing! Fortunately, as I climbed above it, I finally could hear some noise in the cavern above. I realized that the spider monster either didn't care about making the detour to where the bats where or maybe it didn't want to enlarge the narrowing tunnel to get to the bats cavern. No matter the reason though, it was a relief!

Once in the cave, I counted how many bats were here. As I thought, some of them were missing. Either they were still hunting somewhere... or they had being caught by the huge spider monster doing so. My Sonic Bat minion was still here however, which was a relief.

But now, I was wondering what I should do... There was clearly stronger monsters down the labyrinth but I wasn't sure I wanted further below anymore. At least, from what I saw, the conditions of living there were harsher and the monsters here were adapted to such environment. The fire dragons were proof of that.

 _ **As I thought, I need to be more at ease in MY own environment: the air, the sky! Maybe getting that wind magic IS the key to this problem. However, let's first go see the state of that pond... the frog monsters here must have being eaten by that huge spider monster.**_

As I suspected, most of them had become its snack except for the tadpoles. The frogs monsters evolved quite quickly though so I was not in a worry about them... but in the same time, the main source of food was gone for now. Well, at least the one source close to home and that gave them Acid Resistance. The frog pond was their reserve plan when the hunt was doing poorly. It meant that for now, it would return to how it was before... worst if I didn't stay around. After all, now they had another Sonic Bat but it was lower level then me and its intelligence was obviously lower than mine. It did not have the "Appraisal" skill or the means the make the group survive with " Divine Medicine" skill if things went wrong.

I shook my head. It was already no longer my problem. I needed to go outside! The monsters at the upper layers of the labyrinth were no longer a threath to me and I wanted to see if I could become the familiar of a wizard or something. Moreover, those bats could not depend on me forever anyway. I gave them a new Sonic Bat leader and a safer home. Once I find better monsters to tame, I will stop summoning that bat unless it was necessary. That is the best thing I can do for them at this point.

I did not try to leave them immediately though. I wanted to test if I could learn wind magic on my own first, as well as checking the skills gained from my trip in the Middle Level of the Labyrinth. Once I started exploring and searching for the humans, I will not have the luxury of a safe home to test my new skills or improve the ones I already have. I could have checked my skills first but I was excessively eager to test if I could develop wind magic first.

I tried to gather my mana on my wings and project it on the air around me was when moving around, to see if I could create a magic gust of wind or something. It took me a long while and many failed attempts but I finally succeeded:

" Proficiency reached. Wind Magic LV.1 has being learned. "

My eyes kept blinking as the new information entered my mind. Turns out the first level of Wind Magic was not an attack like the one I wanted. It was a spell called "Tailwind". It increased the user speed by making the wind flow around the user body. While it was not a new attack, I wasn't disappointed. If we combined this spell with my other skills, I would be almost untouchable now!

After that, I checked the skills I already gained before... " Drake Power " seem to be a power boost that increase my status. Not bad! As power boost goes, I already had gained " Fighting Spirit" and " Magic Act". If I combined the three of them, even for a short time, my stats increased immensely! And as for Foresight, it seemed like a way to predict a second or two what was going to happen in the future. Very useful!

I was now a Small Sonic Bat level 8. I gained quite a few levels from killing that drake in the Middle Level of the labyrinth. I decided I needed to see if I could face off humans now without dying. I know I was a monster now but I had no idea what would be their reaction to a monster who speak in their mind. I did not see one monster so far who was able to do such thing so I was a bit nervous about their reactions.

I only realized NOW that maybe we might not speak the same language too. Sure, the "Telepathy" skill I gained allowed me to command the monsters thus far but a tamed beast learn to recognize words, he do not understand their meaning.

After thinking some more, I came out with a great idea:

 ** _Wait... if I save them from another monster attack, they will realize I am on THEIR side!_**

After putting a lot of thought into it, I put my plan in motion. I went to search for one of those winged Lions. With my current level and skills, even those beasts were nothing to be worried about. I found a suitable target. It was rather young but it was a good thing since I could teach it more skills this way. I figured I could not bring it back to the colony with me though so I brought it to the place the misty cavern instead. I kept healing it with " Divine Medicine Skill " until his loyalty maxed out and that he got the "Acid Resistance" skill.

Once it had become completely devoted to me, this winged lion became surprisingly friendly and even a bit playful. I was surprised at first then incredibly happy. The bat monsters were somewhat cold toward each other. They could sleep right next to each other for warm and comfort but they were not very sociable. My newest minion on the other hand gave me the sensation of a blooming friendship. It was even purring when I scratched it behind its ear, a very low purring sound that seemed so loud in this cavern. Moreover, he wanted to clean me with its tongue in return! Chuckling at the gesture, I just let him. We even tried to use my tail to play, like I used to do my cats and a piece of string.

 ** _I should really name you... Wait… My "Appraisal" skill keep telling me I have no name. Can only human give us name? Is there a " Naming" skill?_**

" The Naming skill is 100 points. DO you want to buy the Naming skill? "

 ** _Oh wow, there actually is one! Let's see if I can get it without paying for the skill!_**

I wanted to use it on my winged lion... but suddenly realized it was better to try it on my bat minion first. I knew that if I successfully got the skill, it would be at LV.1. I wanted to make sure whatever bonus it give would increase at the skill level increased. I did not want to risk giving only a small boost on my winged lion. As for my bat minion, I did not mind as much.

However, no matter how much names I came up in my mind, I could not learn the new skill it seemed. I was beginning to be out of ideas for names to give it too. I even tried some questionable ones but nothing worked! But finally, I had a flash of inspiration: maybe I cannot get the "Naming" skill because I wasn't speaking?

This... was a problem. I could make some sound with my mouth but making words were difficult. After a few tries, the mysterious voice sounded:

" Conditions met. The Naming LV.1 skill has being learned. "

" Your ally was named [Arc]. His status has being increased. "

 ** _Ah finally! That was harder than I expected, it's hard to make proper words with this mouth. Now, let see what Appraisal has to say..._**

As I suspected, its status increased... and much more then I imagined! It got 50 points in every stats and a few levels, not bad at all! I would need to check constantly on its status from now on. I looked at the pond, suddenly having a realization. Can I name something as long as it is willing to accept such a name? Or does it have to be linked to my Summon skill?!

I needed to try it! I went to the pond and finally spotted a frog egg. I tried to name it... but it did not work. I used my Summon skill to make it my ally. This time, not only it worked but also as the frog gained an increase in status, it changed quickly to a tadpole... and went straight to the frog evolution!

 ** _So that's how it works!_** ** _Well I'm glad I could manage to pronounce the word "Snack". Hehehe, what a fitting name... Well, unless it evolve into something useful._**

I went back in the cavern and brought back two bat corpses, dropping them in the water. I knew that frog would be hungry after an evolution. It was something I implanted after moving to this place, as it served as a way to feed the frogs that would be in our belly without having to eat each other's. The corpse could even be used as a bait for other monsters. I wondered if the frog monsters pond would recover though with everything that happened...

 ** _Meh, we will see how it goes... Now, let's find some humans to get out of this labyrinth!_**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Question, should I fill the Taboo skill or not? For those who don't know, the Taboo skill is particular in this setting. Maxing this skill give you knowledge you should not have and there is a backslash to it. I realized that at this point I'm no longer sure if I should fill it up or not to lvl.10... Therefore, unless I finally make up my mind, I'll still ask you people for your opinion about it. Should this little bat go on the path or darkness or the pure good path not really shown in the light novel?


	7. Find the Humans!

FIND THE HUMANS!

Finding humans proven to be even more of a challenge then I thought it would be. It took me forever to find their trail! Fortunately, I could upgrade my skills and those of my new friend Arc as I went on. My Wind magic was progressing even more quickly than my other skills, just as fast as his Darkness magic skill. I figured that my bat specie probably had a knack for it.

 ** _I'll need to get a third kind of magic to see if it's true or not...I wish I could say it is because I'm very skilled with Magic. That would be awesome if it was true. Well, at least I can take the credit of learning everything by myself. Hummm... I probably do not need another element related magic. As a bat though, I might be weaker to certain kinds of magic. Maybe Light magic would be more difficult for me to master..._**

Even though my skill had evolved in Foresight, it still increased now and then when I did a good prediction. This was one of those times. I chuckled happily, in the high-pitched voice that was now mine as a bat.

 ** _Hehehe, this world is so easy to understand, any skilled video games players could have make that deduction. So maybe not Light Magic. Wait... Is there a magic that would allow me to switch dimension?!_**

I almost stopped flying at that thought... Why didn't I think of this sooner?! I trembled in excitement at the thought of being able to return home... but then suppressed this desire. Becoming a familiar to a powerful wizard was one thing possible for THIS world but if I wanted to come back to my own world, I wanted a way to look back like a human being first. Even if it was under a magic disguise.

However, no matter what ideas I came out with, I neither had the points to buy it or it simply did not exist. It was the same with a magic that would allow me to return home. But it didn't matter for now. I decided to save my skills point from now on. I considered myself quite skillful anyway. Just with my Darkness and Wind magic alone, I was satisfied. Moreover, saving the rest of my incoming skills points seemed like a good idea anyway.

I returned to the initial goal: finding the humans. After a long while, I found some clues and followed the human's trail. I was excited to finally lay eyes on an occupied human camp. There was a few torches up ahead and a guard in armor who seemed to look inside the tunnel I was in. However, since my Stealth skill had become Camouflage, I suspected that most humans wouldn't even be able to notice my presence. I wanted to test it out and I was sure I would be able to flee if he detected me.

Besides, I was having second thoughts about my initial plan. Arc was too nice to throw as a bait at the humans. Moreover, my little Snack was obviously too weak to face them. Although I used one of my followers as shield before, it had being a life-or-death situation.

Activating my Camouflage skill, I flew confidently toward the cave... As I suspected, the guard completely ignored me. I wanted to use the Appraisal skill on them but I knew they might sense my scanning. It was one of the drawback of the Appraisal skill. I didn't want to blow my cover so I just flew by the guard and entered their camp. Inside, the guards were whispering in a language I never heard before. I shook my head silently. I suspected it would happen. I tried to look at their group belonging. I didn't found any magic items or something worth mentioning through Appraisal. I was beginning to think those humans were low ranked.

I was wondering if I should follow up my previous plan with Arc after all when I detected something with my higher sense. One of the larger tent had a smell on blood coming faintly from it. There was a strange powder around that tent that was emitting a moss kind of smell. It was making the blood scent fainter but it was ineffective against me.

I flew in that tent and noticed a young man with lot of bandage over him. He had long deep black hair. When I was human, I wished I had the patience to have long hair like that. For now though, they were in a mess. He had a wet towel on his forehead and he was breathing with difficulty, sleeping and sweating. I did not even need to use Appraisal to guess his injuries were severe. There was a bucket full of water on a small table next to him.

If I could flash a big smile, I would have done so. I used one of my Air Magic spell to create an area of silence inside the tent. I flew above the sleeping man, flapping my wings above him. In the same time, I summoned a sphere of my Divine Medicine Skill. It woke the young man up but before he could realize what was going on, the sphere of medicine dropped on his chest where it was absorbed inside of his body like it was a sponge. Almost instantly, some black stuff coming out from his wounds and became an ice frost on his bandages. His breathing became instantly better and he blinked in surprise. He looked around and finally saw me...

Of course, he screamed in fright as soon as he noticed me. He wanted to get up too but I landed on his chest... I decided to speak to him directly in his mind:

" Watch this "

I knew he couldn't understand me but he suddenly stopped screaming and blinked in disbelief, looking at me. I used my prehensile tail to attract his attention, waving it slowly between me and him. Then, I waved it above the bucket and summoned just a bit of Divine Medicine near my tail to fall inside of the bucket. It did not have much room inside of it but I figured even if diluted, they could figure out that this was good stuff. Then I flew away from the tent, flying low, under the stunned look of the young man. I stopped using mana on my Sound Barrier spell when I left the tent and activated my Camouflage skill again. Only then I flew back and hang to the ceiling of the cavern, wanting to eye what would happen next.

I thought the young man would scream some more but he actually took the time to dress up and exit the tent, looking right and left. One of the guard people who were whispering saw him on the corner of his eyes and when he realize the young man was on his feet, he had one of the dumbest expression I had ever seeing. Clearly a mix a confusion and profound disbelief. When his friends caught him staring and also saw the young man, they were up their feet in a heartbeat and run toward the previously injured young man. They clearly were stunned to see the young man on his feet. I could not understand what they were saying of course but they seemed both excited and still in disbelief, watching him up and down and whispering. When the young man started speaking, however, they frowned and looked at him with a strange expression.

I wanted to chuckle so badly right now. I was hoping they would bring them inside to show the bucket... Soon enough, the young man did just that. I could see everything thanks to my Blindsense. Soon afterward, the three warriors were out the tent, looking at every directions. Their expression were quite particular. I couldn't exactly sense what they were thinking but... I became a bit wary. There was a strange look in their eyes. They walked directly toward a particular tent and one of them entered the tent. They clearly were awakening a man inside... Sensing something was fishy, I decided to fly a bit closer to the exit. I found another hanging point and waited...

A middle-aged man exited the tent, frowning and sounding grumpy. The guards almost pushed him toward the tent where the young man was being taken care up, directly to the bucket. It took some time but then I finally noticed that their tones were excited and even passionate.

The middle-aged man seemingly had completely awoken from his previous sleep. He actually strode forward to the guard I was hanging close to, his subordinates right behind him. He even grabbed the guard by the arm as he spoke to him. The more he spoke, the more the guard face paled. He simply bowed and took a step back, not daring to look at the middle-aged man. It was clear now that this man was the leader of this expedition.

My Danger Perception skill had not being triggered until now but it suddenly rang into me like an alarm signal. I wanted to fly away but I was wondering if I should go on the other exit to get some distance or if I should try to pass the middle-aged man into the tunnel I came from. That hesitation costed me a lot as that middle-aged man rose his palm and from it, a blinding light illuminated the whole place. I closed my eyes but kept using my Blindsense... and I freaked out. Now, the middle-aged man was looking DIRECTLY at me!

 _ **Oh crap, oh crap, Oh crap! I have a bad feeling about this!**_

I took flight and tried to flee... However, it seemed that magician was unwilling to let me get away. He try to blast me with a spell, which I dodged. I could only relied on gained skills to detect that magic attack.

I suddenly felt outraged. He was attacking me... even after he clearly knew I healed one of his man!

I decided to fight back my fear and did a loop around to face him. I didn't had the time to go that far to begin with; he was still in the range of my Wailing skill...

I used it.

Soon, all his man beside him fallen on the ground, losing consciousness. But not him. Although I could detect a trace of fear in his eyes, he was still stubbornly trying to face me. He winced in pain as he try to cast what it seemed like an orb of light toward me.

To him, that orb must had being fast and hard to evade... but he had underestimated me. I dodged it easily and flew so fast that he had no time to react. I was already in his face when his eyes grew bigger in horror.

I slammed him on the head. I was surprised to hear a cracking sound as I do. He felt on the ground... with half of his face gone. I was hoping to make him unconscious with that headbutt... but it seem I underestimated the power of my Diamond Skeleton on humans. Mixed with my speed, I suddenly realized it was probably the equivalent of receiving a cannonball in the face for this poor human.

The remaining of the humans had woken up now and most of them saw me, flying above what seemed to be their leader and one third of their troops, unconscious or dead. Afraid, all of them picked what I figured what the strict essential and were running toward the other tunnel exit.

 ** _Well that was a big failure in making a good first impression..._**

I looked at the humans below me and I figured I needed to save them to salvage my reputation with the those humans... but that's when the mysterious voice warned me I gained so many levels in a row! I coudl even evolve now if I wanted to!

Turns out, killing humans was giving me WAY more experience point then monsters! I was almost tempted to kill the remaining humans but controlled myself... For now. With a evolution around the corner, it was better to prepared accordingly. Also, I still wanted to get outside and I figured the remaining humans would allow me to follow them. Not that they could do anything about it though.

 ** _To think humans are so weak... well, that magician probably was not but he underestimated me greatly._**

I shook my head and waited for the rest of the humans to wake up. I didn't want to heal them now that it came to this. When the first one woke up, I wasn't hiding anymore. I was hanging next to the entrance of the tunnel entrance the humans didn't flee, looking at them. He shivered from fright but he realized I would not attacking them. He seemed a bit confused but it seem he realized I was no immediate threat. Soon, all of them woke up, a bit confused and scared as they watched me. They started to return to camp and pack up. As they were preparing to leave as well, I followed them. They were watching me warily but they definitely understood now I would not attack them if they weren't attacking me first. The one who I saved earlier seemed less wary then the others. He actually took a fruit from his backpack and threw it in my direction!

I shivered and used Appraisal on it... It was not poisonous so I swooped down and ate it. Oh... the sweetness! It tasted close to a juicy orange, despise being blue in color. Didn't matter, it was so tasty and delicious!

I released a few happy clicking sound after I ate it. The other humans were surprised but seemed to be less wary of me after that. The one I saved tried to talk to me but I think he finally understood I didn't understand a word they were saying. Still, he was clearly more friendly then the rest of the others. I could see he was clearly still a bit wary though but it was understandable. He finally stopped talking to me after a while and they just moved in silence, wary of their surroundings. One time, they faced one of those giant snakes but I got rid of it quickly. They were surprised but seemingly extremely happy of my involvement in this. They even gave me another fruit after that!

The atmosphere among them clearly got better after this. They were clearly didn't see me as a menace after that. The one who I saved seemingly tried to show me his arm. Having seeing a falcon trainer on TV, I knew what he was hoping I would do. I tried to perch on his harm... but he realized I was too heavy for him. I flew back in the air as we both realized that fact. He simply laughed as he had almost lost balance from this.

In my mind, I was thinking this was laughable too but for different reasons. From the way he was looking at me, he was clearly thinking he was the reason I was following them, like we had become close friends or something. Even the other humans were looking at him with envy. They clearly had it all wrong. If I had to choose a master, it would be picky about it... and maybe he would need to be a bit stronger? I was not so sure about that last point though. Humans are greedy. Maybe having someone like me following him around might be a curse if someone wanted to make me his pet.

I considered others might have the Taming skill I had... And try to do it to me. So slowly but surely, I was considering that becoming too close to a human might not be a good idea. Maybe I could simply live off simply, in the countryside. If I learned fire magic, I could probably cook my own food... It wouldn't give me spices but I could probably steal it easily. It seemed like a better plan now to do that. In any case, my Divine Medicine skill would allow me to never feel hungry again anyway.

I was eager for the freedom of this Labyrinth... that's all that mattered for now. Soon enough, we saw the glimpse of the sun... I was ecstatic! Once outside, I took a deep breath... the air outside was definitely better than the one in the Labyrinth. As I was starting to fly away, the humans below me started toc all up to me. Looking back at them, I saw them actually sad of my eventual depart. The one I saved was definitely dispirited. I hesitated but came back down. I snatched his waterskin and filled it with my Divine Medicine skill. It was half-full but I figured he would be enough to make it a great departure gift. Then after this good deed, I flew away.

Ah, the sky, the wind! The sun on my back! It was definitely awesome to be able to fly! Nothing could stop me! I flew until I felt a bit tired. I decided to stop near an orchard. I hid myself in a dense tree. I summoned Arc from the labyrinth. He seemed curious about where he was. A bit nervous even. However, I sensed he was relief that I was here with him. He whimpered though so I decided to indulge him and sleep in the bushes with him. Sleeping next to him was awesome anyway, I could use him as pillow in this situation.

Life seemingly was giving us a break... I was happy.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I get the feeling my character is fickle... But I think it's normal as he is cautious and he has a lot to think about. As for myself, I was lazy and decided to not do as much stats and such for the formatting. I figured an update would be more appreciated, even if there wasn't any of that at this point. I will try to redo that in the future but I make no promises. I will just be happy to not be jobless next week lol!


	8. Starting a new life!

**Starting a new life!**

The orchard was nice. No predators, a nice companion to keep me company. And plenty of food for my next evolution.

 _ **Ah right, let's use Appraisal again to check what are the newest options...**_

As I used Appraisal, I was surprised to see there was three choice this time!

 **Adult Sonic Bat:** An adult version of the Sonic Bat.

 **Small Banshee:** A small banshee monster. Feared everywhere, this fast and intelligent monster who can steal the appearance of its victims with magic.

 **Small Wyvern:** A small version of a Wyvern. A powerful monster who is the origin of the drake and dragon bloodline. If the wyvern develop an elemental affinity, it might evolve into a drake in the future.

 ** _Oh my gosh, There is three choices this time?! Ah no, only two if we don't count the Adult Sonic Bat one. Let's see the other too... Wait... what?! A monster that can give me a human appearance?! SOLD! I'm taking that one! Ah wait, what's the Wyvern, just to be sure... NOPE! Let's all embark the Banshee train, WOOHOO!_**

I made sure to order Arc to guard me before starting the evolution. I fallen asleep as soon as I selected it. When I woke up, Arc was still next to me. Sensing I have become awake, he licked me in the face. I chuckled and was surprised my chuckling sound didn't sound like a bat sound anymore. It sounded more like a mix of growling. I didn't have time to think about it though, as I was very hungry. But when I was about to get some apples, I realized something... I used my Divine Medicine Skill on myself. As I thought, it resolved my hunger problem.

Arc begin to lick the remaining medicine off me before continuing liking the one on the ground. I chuckled and give him a shower of my Divine Medicine skill. Arc processed to lick himself happily, purring as he did.

 ** _I need to train you Arc, I really wonder what monster you can become... But first, let's see the skills I got from evolving! Appraisal time!_**

" Abundant Sky: Apply a correction on your movement while airborne "

" Steel Body: Apply a correction against non-magic damage based on the skill rank "

" Faint Enhancement: Apply a fainting enhancement to all attacks based skills based on its rank "

" Shapeshift: After killing a target, the user can shapeshift into its physical form. The number of appearance you can remember is limited by the ranks of the skill. "

 ** _Abundant Sky is perfect for a flier! And it seem my Diamond Skeleton Body skill that was LV.10 became the Steel Body skill... Two nice upgrades! I wonder why I couldn't get those before... For the Steel Body skill, maybe it's because a steel type body would have burden me if I didn't have enough strength... yeah that's probably it._**

My Foresight skill increased again from this, proving me I'm right. Smirking, I continued to read about my new skills...

 ** _Now, what is that Faint Enhancement skill... All my attack affect the soul to its core it seem?! HUH?! Wow, it sound amazing! Well, I don't have to kill my enemies if they faint so that's good. That definitely will be useful if I decide to be on the good side of the humans, they are way too fragile... Ok, now, Shapeshift, show me the goods! Wait... WHAT ?! I have to KILL my targets for it to work?! Geesh, I wish I knew THAT before!_**

I rolled my small bat eyes and put the matter aside for now. I looked at my others skills. They had increased quite a bit! I was especially interested in the new Gale and Darkness spells I had now. Both were the upgraded version of Wind and Shadow spells respectively. Darkness and Gale Magic were definitely better and more aggressive than their previous version. My Water Current magic had being unlocked after practicing with my Divine Medicine skill. Since both were liquid, I managed to unlock it without having to pay for it.

Other than my magic, I have gained a few ranks in other skills but those didn't excite me as much. I was eager to try my new spells but first, I decided it was time to think of this Shapeshift problem. After consideration, I figured that since I'm a monster now, I'll probably have to defend myself against a human once more. But... killing a human for no reason didn't seem right to me. A criminal? Maybe... but it's like getting a criminal record as well. And I didn't know the language of this world... but with my increased intelligence and my Record skill, I could probably learn it easily if I focused on it.

 ** _Meh, one problem at a time. I don't need to look like a human right now. I should use my Camouflage and higher senses skills to listen to a children's classroom. This way, I should be able to learn the local language._**

I finally found what I was looking for and the next morning, I was listening to a local kindergarten class. It felt a bit weird to learn basic things as the word "sheep", "sky" and such from scratch but my skills made me a fast learner. Once I felt I had nothing more to learn to this class, I tried the next class, one full of older kids. I took trips back to my friend Arc every time they had breaks, making sure he was ok and well fed. I didn't want him to alert the humans of his presence, which would have being the case if he had to feed himself from their livestock's.

Days went like this for a two weeks period before I was confident enough to steal a book and try to read it. Turns out I could understand almost all words in it. I might not have increased my overall strength a lot during this time but now, I was confident I could pass as a human more easily in this world.

It was at this point I had to consider killing a human... again.

 ** _Wish I could transform into that human I already killed but looks like I can't._**

Considering what to do, I decided I would fly back to Arc and explore the lands, hoping the answer will come by itself. Little did I know Arc had already found the answer to my problem... and was trying to get away from it!

When I arrived near the forest, I found a few adventurer, trying to kill my poor little Arc! He was fleeing, not engaging battles but it seem there was lots of archers and a few spellcasters and they surrounded a large area of the forest. They were slowly closing on him!

I was NOT happy about it! I took some distance and used my Summon skill to bring Arc back to me. My fury increased when I saw that Arc was injured and exhausted from the chase! I used my Divine Medicine skill to restore him. My poor Arc was purring so loudly, he was so happy to see me!

I decided to avenge him... From my observations, there was three mages among the hunters but they weren't on equal strength. Two of them were using air magic to make the arrows more powerful and faster but the last one was strong enough to make Arc avoid that direction all together if he could. I decided to focus on that one. I sneaked among them and realized it was unfortunately a female magician. From the conversations, they were thinking that Arc landed in the forest and that they should be closing in on his location very soon. They were very organized and following that woman's order. I decided to go check on the other groups first. One of the other group, I found an interesting human among them... From the moment I saw him, I knew he were perfect for me!

He was a young adult, probably in his mid-twenties. He was fairly good looking except from a burnt scar on his right arm. What was very eye catching however was his mount. It looked like a white Pegasus! My intuition told me he had either the Taming or the Summon skill. The way he apparently eager to find Arc was very telling. Turns out this guy's name was Argant and the soldiers kept mentioning " Arc " as his next trophy... or prize.

 ** _So you want to capture Arc for yourself... This gives me an idea._**

Using Camouflage, I flew among those man. Once in the middle of them, I used my Summon skill to teleport Arc to the middle of the group. Then, I quickly flew away from Arc, just enough so he won't be affected by my Wailing attack. I knocked them most humans unconscious, including the magician. Unfortunately, the closest humans to me died instantly but fortunately, the magician was just unconscious for now.

The ones who were further away lost their courage and ran toward the forest cover. They couldn't stand up to Arc at all as he slashed them promptly. While Arc was getting rid of the remaining troops, I used Appraisal on the mage with the Summon skill. Turns out he was way weaker than me. A magician apprentice at best. He only knew a bit of healing magic and wind magic. His best skill was the Taming skill which he had at high level. But he also had some questionable skills like " Thievery " and even one rank in "Taboo" for the " Ally Killer " title. He was definitely a shady character.

 ** _The world will definitely be better without you... And I don't have much choice to be honest... Let's take him away!_**

I ordered Arc to stop chasing the humans and he flew away with the magician to the west while I lifted the Pegasus mount. I was very strong now after all. I flew away at top speed behind a hill far away. I broke the neck of the beast and took off the saddlebags from it. Using the Shapeshift skill, I transformed into the Pegasus and lifted and adjusted the saddlebags so that I would be the one holding them.

Then I flew up to Arc, avoiding the area where I saved him. It took a while to do so but I was fast, silent and unseen. My prey didn't even regain consciousness by the time I arrived. I closed my eyes as my new hooves crushed his skull. It felt wrong but I held it together because I was relieved: I would have a human identity now.

 ** _My plan might not be perfect but it should work. Now, any survivors will think Arc teleported in the middle of them and used a skill to knock them unconscious. They will think this guy mount fled, scared, because the pact was broken since this guy was "killed" by Arc. Now we just need to dispose of this body..._**

This part took longer than anticipated. Just recalling the memories disgust me so I'll skip that part. But we didn't eat it, we just wanted to hide it somewhere it wouldn't be found. Once it was done, I started to search that guy possessions.

Little by little, after reading his travel diaries and from the clues I picked on, I had a good idea what this guy life was. A criminal on the road with magical talent. Was expelled from a magic academy at some point because he tried to blackmail someone. He was then recruited by this bandit group. He killed for his first time while part of this little group. He did it because he was in love with their captain apparently. A twisted, interesting story overall but it felt this guy was blinded by his feeling for that woman and because of his pride. Not like it really matters now.

I shrugged. He didn't own anything of value. Life on the road was harsh it seem. I discovered his name as well but I didn't want to use it. This guy was a criminal after all. I'll make myself a new name among the humans.

After transforming into him, I practiced talking again. It felt **SO GOOD**! It felt weird that it wasn't the sound of my own voice though. I tried some of my skills in this new body, just to make sure nothing would be amiss. There was a map in this guy possession, I decided to aim for a town that was remote in the mountain. Neither too big or two small. But it was probably well defended, enough to not be raided by bandits anyway.

Of course, I travelled as a bat. It would have being way too long otherwise but I was travelling mostly at night. There was actually some monsters that only lived during the night but they were no threats to me and Arc. We finally arrived in sight of this city. Easy to spot with all the lights. A rather pretty sight I might add.

I decided to not pass the gate. I wasn't sure I needed proper travelling papers and I didn't wanted to get noticed by the guards anyway. Instead, I flew above the city, alone. Arc waited for me outside, a good distance away. I found an abandoned manor nearby what seemed like the noble district. I was surprised such beautiful rich looking house was left abandoned and left at the mercy of plants and rodents. Using Appraisal, I discovered that this manor had a special status on it: Haunted.

That's why I wasn't caught by surprised when a spectral creature tried to attack me. My good friend " Appraisal " confirmed to me it was a gargoyle: a monster soul trapped with magic in its petrified body. If the owner died without transferring its ownership, it would attack anyone in the house proximity. Only usable if there is several Taming skill users in the same family. I simply used my Wailing and Taming skill to bring it under control. It was almost too easy despite the monster being relatively strong. I bounded with it using my evolved Taming skill while it was unconscious.

Now, I needed to clean the place. Easy enough with open windows and controlled Wind magic and the Telekinesis skill. I discovered the hidden room with the statue of the gargoyle. Interestingly, it had a spell formation using Dimensional Magic. This sparkled my interest... Maybe Dimensional Magic was worth it after all!

I had gained a few levels from killing so many humans back there. Fortunately, I didn't gain a status like " Calamity of Humans " but I was afraid I would gain it eventually. I was resolute in killing humans only if absolutely necessary.

Looking at my levels and the ones of Arc, the Appraisal skill warned me that Arc was ready to evolve! I suddenly realized he actually killed humans too and for him, it must have being even more profitable than me.

Looking at its available evolution, he had two options:

\- Young Manticore

\- Young Air Drake

 _ **Interesting... If it's the same pattern as for me, there is a high change it could still evolve into an Air Drake later on so I'll definitely pick the Manticore.**_

I picked his evolution, something I could do thanks to the link created from my Summon skill. Arc felt asleep almost in the same time. I stayed with him, eager to see an evolution in action.

It was far grosser then I thought it would be. There was sound of bone cracking and the changes of Arc's body were unsettling. The fur on his tail's end had become spiky and sharp. Although his wings remained some of their feathery pattern, they slowly covered themselves with skin first and then with some black chitin. This black armor-like chitin also covered his legs and paws. A strong acidic smell came from his mouth during the transformation so I could guess his bite would have some poisonous and/or some acidic property now. Other than that, he became a bit bigger but not my much.

The transformation took the rest of the night and lasted until the middle of the day. When Arc woke up, I realized his retina had become completely black and his iris were snake like and golden now. I fed him with my Divine Medicine skill to restore its stamina, which he did drank gratefully. I pet him with humans hand and he purred in response. I was so glad to have recover a human body at this point, petting an animal was so much more satisfying with a human's hand.

 ** _Now I just need to make a name for myself in this town... That shouldn't be too difficult. I know I could heal anyone from any diseases. Maybe I could be hired as an adventurer, who knows? I guess I would need to learn about this place first however. Let's see if there is a history specialist in this town or some tour guide. Maybe I'll have to deal with whoever owned this place before me too... I need to buy this place, somehow._**

Arc seemed happy about his new evolution. He had gained some intelligence I could see it in his eyes. I told him to wait inside the mansion while I went outside to explore. I used my Camouflage skill to not make anyone notice me exit the mansion. After some time asking around, I finally found what I was looking for: a tour guide. I had no money to pay for his services but it didn't matter. I could simply follow the group using my Camouflage skill.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I am glad I was able to create gargoyle in this setting. One of my favorite monsters. I considered made it an evolution for the main character at some point but decided otherwise in the end.


End file.
